South Korea: Ex-President Yoon appears for insurrection trial

Seoul, Nov 3 (IANS) Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended his insurrection trial on Monday, his second appearance since last week after being absent from the proceedings for four months.

The ousted president is being tried on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through his failed imposition of martial law in December last year.

Yoon had not appeared at his trial since he was placed under arrest for a second time in July, citing health reasons, but started attending the trial last Thursday.

Kwak Jong-keun, the former chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, will testify at Monday's hearing. Kwak has claimed that he received orders from Yoon to drag out lawmakers from the National Assembly during the short-lived martial law imposition.

Yoon has argued that deploying the military to the parliament building was necessary to maintain public order without suppressing the civilians.

Yoon has reportedly decided to attend the trial to better exercise his right to defense as key witnesses are testifying in court.

He attended the first hearing of another trial on martial law-related charges in September, as well as a separate hearing on his request for bail.

Yoon is also believed to have considered that a prolonged absence from the proceedings could negatively affect the trial's outcome.

The court had earlier warned that the defendant would have to bear responsibility for being absent from the proceedings.

Yoon's lawyers, however, said he still plans to attend the hearings selectively, Yonhap news agency reported.

Earlier on October 21, Yoon Suk Yeol did not attend his second trial on martial law-related charges for the third consecutive session.

The hearing at the Seoul Central District Court had proceeded in his absence, after the bench said conditions had not changed since the previous session, which he also skipped after the detention centre where he is being held determined it would be impossible to bring him in by force.

The second trial concerns charges that the former president violated the rights of Cabinet members in the process of declaring martial law in December, revised the martial law proclamation afterwards and obstructed his detention by investigators in January.

Two former officials of the Presidential Security Service were scheduled to take the witness stand during hearing.

Both people were suspected of involvement in blocking Yoon's detention in January.

Since being placed under arrest for a second time in July, the former president had mostly ignored his trials and summonses by special counsels investigating various allegations surrounding him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

He was absent for the 15th consecutive session from his trial on charges of leading an insurrection through the martial law attempt.

--IANS

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