The Constitutional Court is scheduled to hold its first trial on December 27 while announcing President Yoon’s defense team.
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has rebuffed investigators seeking answers about his failure to declare martial law, as South Korea’s Constitutional Court begins a parallel process to decide whether he should be stripped of his position.
Prosecutors issued a second subpoena on Monday to question Yoon on charges of insurrection and abuse of power after he failed to respond to a similar request on Sunday.
Yonhap News reported that the joint investigation team also requested that the suspended President Lee appear and answer questions, but the Blue House refused.
Investigators can seek a court-issued arrest warrant if he continues to refuse.
Prosecutor General Yoon was impeached by the South Korean National Assembly on Saturday on charges of attempting to end civilian rule in the short term.
The attempt to declare martial law plunged the country into its worst political turmoil in years and forced several officials to resign, including ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon and Yoon, who announced his resignation on Monday.
If the Constitutional Court decides to dismiss President Yoon, a new election must be held within two months. Prime Minister Han Deok-soo will serve as Chairman Yoon’s interim representative.
The court began the impeachment trial of President Yoon on Monday.
The court’s first hearing will be held on Dec. 27, court spokesman Jin Lee said at a news conference Monday after the six justices met to discuss plans for impeachment deliberations.
The court has up to six months to make a decision on the case.
Mr. Yoon did not need to attend the hearing, Mr. Lee said.
News 1 reported that Attorney Yoon appointed Prosecutor Kim Hong-il as his chief legal representative and formed a defense team.
In 2017, it took three months for the court to rule on stripping then-President Park Geun-hye of her presidency after she was impeached on charges of abuse of power.
international relations
As the Constitutional Court and prosecutors continue their legal proceedings, the government led by Acting President Han is moving quickly to reassure international partners and calm financial markets in South Korea, one of the world’s 20 largest economies.
On Monday morning, the Minister of Strategy and Finance, the Governor of the Bank of Korea, and the Financial Supervisory Service met and promised to monitor the financial and foreign exchange markets 24 hours a day.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Index rose for the fifth straight session on Monday and traded at its highest level in more than two weeks as authorities pledged to stabilize financial markets and analysts noted political uncertainty has eased.
As his first move as acting president, Representative Han had a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday and pledged his firm will to pursue foreign and security policies based on the alliance between the two countries.
China also promised to promote ‘sound and stable’ relations with South Korea.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on this day, “Korea is an important close neighbor and friendly cooperative partner of China.”
Last week, Rep. Yoon angered China by saying the main opposition party had blocked strengthening the Espionage Act, which could have been used to punish Chinese nationals suspected of spying on South Korea’s defense and intelligence assets.
China said it was “very surprised and dissatisfied” with Minister Yoon’s remarks.
