South Korean President Yoon’s Impeachment Hearing Lasts 4 Minutes

The first formal hearing in South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment trial lasted just four minutes today due to his absence. The Constitutional Court dismissed Yoon’s request to exclude one of the eight justices from the trial.

The court, citing the relevant law, said that the next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, and the court will proceed with the trial regardless of whether Yoon is present or not. Today’s hearing was held



exactly a month after the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon over his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3.

Yoon’s lawyers had said earlier that the president, who has been suspended from his duties, will not attend the hearing due to concerns about his personal safety amid investigators’ attempt to detain him on charges of insurrection and abuse of power related to his martial law decree.