Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was in court for the first time yesterday for a crucial hearing that would decide whether to extend his detention as investigators probe his failed martial law bid.
Yoon’s supporters rallied outside the court and scuffled with police as he arrived in a blue van, weeks after throwing the nation into chaos by attempting to suspend civilian rule.
The president’s Dec. 3 martial law bid lasted just six hours, with lawmakers voting it down despite him ordering soldiers to storm parliament to stop them.
Photo: AFP
Yoon was subsequently impeached by the South Korean parliament and resisted arrest for weeks, holed up in his guarded residence until he was finally detained on Wednesday in a dawn raid.
South Korea’s first sitting president to be detained, Yoon refused to cooperate during the initial 48 hours detectives were allowed to hold him.
However, the impeached president remains in custody after investigators requested a new warrant on Friday to extend his detention.
He decided to appear in court “with the intention of restoring his honor,” the president’s lawyer, Yoon Kab-keun, said.
A spokesperson for Seoul Western District Court later confirmed that the hearing commenced with the president in attendance.
After reviewing the request to extend Yoon’s detention, a judge was expected to announce her decision last night after press time or early today.
Outside the court, crowds of Yoon’s backers were waving flags and holding “release the president” placards.
Police officers formed a chain to prevent them reaching the court entrance, which has been closed to the public since Friday evening over safety concerns.
If approved, as expected, the new warrant would likely extend Yoon’s detention by 20 days.
This would give prosecutors time to formalize an indictment for insurrection, a charge that could see him jailed for life or executed if found guilty. If indicted, the president would probably be detained for the duration of the trial.
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS