South Korea’s Constitutional Court held the seventh hearing of the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday, with the arrested president attending for the fifth time.

As in previous hearings, Mr Yoon, dressed in a suit and red necktie, arrived at the courtroom in central Seoul at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT).

During the session, he stated that he declared emergency martial law and took follow-up measures with the authority granted to him under the constitution.

Martial law can be imposed in “a state of war, serious incident, or other comparable national emergency,” which involves engaging with an enemy or facing extreme social unrest.

However, the opposition bloc accused Mr Yoon of unconstitutionally imposing martial law, as no national emergency had been declared.

Mr Yoon defended his actions, claiming no one was arrested, attacked, or suppressed by soldiers during the declaration of martial law on the night of December 3, 2024. It was lifted hours later by the opposition-led National Assembly.

Military helicopters landed at the National Assembly, and hundreds of armed special forces troops entered the building during the brief martial law period, as shown on TV footage.

During the previous hearing, Col. Kim Hyun-Tae, the chief of the Army Special Warfare Command’s 707th Special Mission Group, testified that special forces troops only defended themselves during a confrontation at the National Assembly.

He stated that the troops did not attack citizens, either inside or outside the building.

Mr Yoon maintained that he ordered the withdrawal of troops from the National Assembly and other locations, but Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, the former chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, denied receiving any such order.

Additionally, Lee Sang-min, former interior minister, contradicted Mr Yoon’s claims, stating that he was never instructed to cut off power or water to left-leaning media outlets, such as MBC, JTBC, Hankyoreh, Kyunghyang Shinmun, and the polling agency Flower Research.

This statement contradicted the prosecution’s indictment, which claimed Mr Yoon had issued such orders around midnight on December 3.

The eighth and final hearing is scheduled for Thursday, though the court may schedule additional sessions.

The National Assembly passed the motion to impeach Mr Yoon on December 14, 2024. The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to deliberate, during which Yoon’s presidential powers remain suspended.

Mr Yoon was arrested on January 15, becoming the first sitting president in South Korea’s history to be apprehended. He was indicted under detention on January 26, becoming the first incumbent president to face trial while in custody.

He is accused of conspiring with the former defence minister to unlawfully declare martial law and deploy armed forces to the National Assembly.

(Xinhua/NAN)