South Korea’s impeached president has denied that he ordered the military to drag lawmakers out of the National Assembly to prevent them from voting to reject his martial law decree last month, as he appeared for the first time before the Constitutional Court that will determine his fate.

Yoon Suk Yeol has faced South Korea's constitutional court for the first time, following last month's martial law saga.

Yoon’s detention, after a tense standoff outside the presidential residence, marks the latest chapter in a bewildering series of events since his martial law decree.

Police officers and investigators of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials pass through the entrance to the official residence of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, as authorities are seeking to execute an arrest warrant, in Seoul, South Korea, January 15, 2025.

Yoon, currently suspended from his duties with his powers transferred to an acting president, did not attend two previous hearings earlier this month. The court has until June 11 to decide whether to

South Korea's president Yook Suk Yeol has been arrested by anti-corruption investigators, following a weeks-long stand-off between investigators and his personal security detail. The 64-year-old, who plunged South Korea into political turmoil with his short-lived martial law declaration on 3 December, is the first sitting president to be arrested.

By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended on Tuesday a Constitutional Court hearing of his impeachment trial where he denied ordering military commanders to drag lawmakers out of parliament during his short-lived bid to impose martial law.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in a Seoul court for his impeachment trial Tuesday, defending his short-lived martial law bid and denying charges that he ordered the military to drag lawmakers away.

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol refused on Monday to be questioned by investigators under a probe into whether he committed insurrection, as dozens of his supporters faced arrest over a violent rampage on a court building.