S Korea begins impeachment trial of suspended president

South Korea's Constitutional Court has held its first hearing to decide whether suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol should be removed from office following last month's shocking attempted imposition of martial law. The hearing ended within four minutes due to Yoon's absence. His lawyers had stated earlier that he would not attend for his own safety, as he is wanted on separate charges of suspected insurrection.

Yoon was suspended from his duties in December after members of his own party voted with the opposition to impeach him. However, he will only be formally removed from office if at least six of the eight Constitutional Court judges vote in favor of impeachment. Under South Korean law, the court must set a new hearing date before proceeding without his participation.

The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday. Yoon's lawyers have stated he will attend hearings "when appropriate," but they have challenged the court's unilateral decision to set trial dates. The court on Tuesday rejected the lawyers' request for one of the eight judges to recuse himself from the proceedings. Yoon has not commented publicly since the parliament voted to impeach him on December 14, mainly speaking through his lawyers.

Investigators are also preparing another attempt to arrest Yoon on charges of suspected insurrection. A previous arrest attempt on January 3 ended after a hours-long standoff with his security team. Yoon is the first sitting president of South Korea to face arrest. According to local media reports, a second attempt to detain him could happen as early as this week.

Yoon's brief declaration of martial law on December 3 plunged South Korea into political turmoil. He attempted to justify the move by claiming he was protecting the nation from "anti-state" forces, but it quickly became clear that it was actually motivated by his own political predicament. This was followed by an unprecedented few weeks, with the opposition-majority parliament voting to impeach Yoon, followed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo briefly taking over as acting president.

The crisis has hit the South Korean economy, with the won weakening and global credit rating agencies warning that consumer and business confidence is waning. Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye did not attend their respective impeachment trials in 2004 and 2017. In Park's case, the first hearing ended after nine minutes in her absence. Roh was reinstated after a two-month review, while Park's impeachment was upheld.