South Korea delays impeachment trial news as Yoon Eun-hye remains elusive

To evade arrest, the suspended president skipped a hearing on his failed martial law application.

The first hearing of the impeachment trial has been adjourned after South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol failed to appear in court.

The trial, which begins in the capital Seoul on Tuesday, will decide whether to remove Yoon as president over his failed bid to seize power in December. The hearing at the country's Constitutional Court was postponed minutes after it started due to Yin's absence.

The president's lawyers have said he will not attend the hearing, saying authorities are moving to detain him, preventing him from expressing his side at the trial. Yoon had been holed up in a hillside villa in Seoul for weeks to evade arrest.

The court has 180 days from December 14 to issue a ruling. If at least six of the eight justices vote for impeachment, Yin will be formally removed from office.

Under Korean law, the court must set a new hearing date before proceeding without his participation. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Yin's lawyer said Yin will decide whether to appear in court after discussions.

Confrontation breaks out at presidential palace

The lawyers also reiterated that the arrest warrant held by the investigating authorities was invalid and that Yin would respond to a valid detention order that was legally executed.

In recent weeks, investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) have sought to arrest Yoon but have faced resistance from presidential guards and supporters in front of his official residence.

As the trial begins, authorities say they are also preparing a second attempt to detain him.

In response, Presidential Chief of Staff Jung Jin-seok said in a statement that anti-corruption agency investigators and police are trying to drag Yoon out of the official residence like a member of a “South American drug cartel.”

He suggested that the suspended president could be questioned at a “third location” or at his residence.

However, Yoon's lawyers said they had no immediate plans to bring the president for questioning.

On January 3, the Presidential Security Service prevented investigators from detaining Yin during a nearly six-hour standoff.

CIOs and police are jointly investigating whether Yoon's brief declaration of martial law constituted an attempted rebellion and have pledged to take stronger measures to arrest him.

“They are trying to discuss how to execute the arrest warrant in an orderly and peaceful manner,” Al Jazeera's Patrick Ho reported from Seoul.

“We are hearing reports that as many as 1,000 police officers may have been involved in overwhelming the presidential security services.”