SEOUL – South Korea’s Constitutional Court will begin reviewing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment on Monday over his December 3 state of siege attempt, while investigators said they plan to question him this week.
All six current court judges will attend the first meeting on the impeachment, which the opposition-led parliament passed on Saturday. The court has until six months to decide whether to remove Mr. Yoon from office or reinstate him.
Judge Kim Hyung-du said the Constitutional Court will discuss procedures and how to conduct arguments.
In 2017, the court began hearing oral arguments about three weeks after parliament voted to impeach then-President Park Geun-hye for abusing the powers of her office, and took three months to issue a ruling to remove her presidency purchase.
Mr Yoon and some senior officials may face charges of rebellion over the short-lived martial law.
A joint team of investigators from the police, the Defense Ministry and an anti-corruption agency plans to summon Mr Yoon for questioning at 10am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday, a police official told Reuters.
On Sunday, Mr Yoon did not appear in response to a call for questioning as part of a separate investigation by the Public Prosecution Service, Yonhap News reported. Yoon cited the reason that he was still forming a legal team for his defense.
The government led by acting President Han Duck-soo moved quickly to reassure international partners and calm financial markets, while the main opposition party pledged to cooperate in efforts to stabilize the situation.
On Monday morning, the finance minister, the governor of the Bank of Korea and top financial regulators met and pledged 24-hour supervision of financial and currency markets.
The benchmark KOSPI index .KS11 rose for a fifth straight session on Monday, trading at its highest level in more than two weeks, as authorities vowed to stabilize financial markets and analysts noted political uncertainty had eased.
Mr. Yoon’s surprise declaration of martial law and the resulting political crisis spooked markets and South Korea’s diplomatic partners, concerned about the country’s ability to counter nuclear-armed North Korea to deter.
In one of his first steps as acting president, Han spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden on Sunday, pledging an unwavering commitment to pursue a foreign and security policy based on the alliance between the two countries.
Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung welcomed US President Donald Trump’s choice of his former intelligence chief to carry out special missions, including North Korea, as a sign of commitment to dialogue to ease tensions to reduce.
Saturday’s impeachment vote passed, with at least 12 members of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party siding in favor of the party. This has left the party in disarray, with leader Han Dong-hoon announcing his resignation on Monday.
Mr Han had publicly supported Yoon’s ouster as the only way to restore order in the country and clashed with some members who continued to oppose the move. – Reuters