South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol is scheduled to make a final statement before eight judges on Tuesday in a Constitutional Court trial examining his impeachment over the brief martial law declaration in December of last year. This hearing marks the last public session before the judges reach a decision on the politician’s fate.

The trial is set to start at 2 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT) and will also feature a closing statement by Jung Chung-rae, the head of the Parliament’s judiciary committee.

Following the completion of the impeachment trial, if the court approves the Parliament’s decision to impeach Yoon, he will be removed from office less than halfway through his five-year term. A verdict is anticipated in mid-March, and in the event of impeachment, South Korea will need to elect a new president within the next 60 days.

Yoon is also facing a separate criminal trial regarding insurrection charges connected to the martial law declaration. He is the first South Korean president to face a criminal trial while still in office, and the case is expected to continue beyond the outcome of the impeachment trial.

In his defense, Yoon has claimed that he did not intend to enforce full military rule. He argued that he had the authority to invoke martial law but only sought to alert the public to what he perceived as opposition abuse of parliamentary power. He mentioned that debates over allegations of ordering military involvement in parliament to remove legislators were unnecessary because no violent actions occurred.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Parliament contended that Yoon’s judgment in invoking martial law was flawed and that he could repeat such actions if reinstated to his position.

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Source: https://www.dw.com/en/south-korea-s-yoon-faces-final-impeachment-hearing/a-71737075?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf