By Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park
SEOUL (Reuters) – Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended a court hearing on Saturday to contest a request by investigators to extend his detention on insurrection charges, his lawyer said.
Yoon on Wednesday became the country’s first sitting president to be arrested, as part of a criminal investigation linked to his brief declaration of martial law on December 3.
Investigators on Friday requested a detention warrant to extend Yoon’s custody for up to 20 days. He refuses to speak to investigators and has been held at the Seoul Detention Center since his arrest.
Police were seen dispersing a crowd of Yoon supporters blocking the entrance to the Seoul West District Court, where the hearing began around 2 p.m. (0500 GMT). A decision is expected Saturday or Sunday.
Television channels showed a convoy of a dozen police cars and motorcycles escorting Yoon from the detention center to the court.
“He decided to attend … to restore his honor by directly explaining the legitimacy of emergency martial law and that insurrection is not established,” said Yoon’s lawyer, Yoon Kab-keun, in a press release.
Insurrection, the crime charged against Yoon by the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau, is one of the few against which a sitting South Korean president does not enjoy immunity.
Hearings on detention warrants typically last about two hours in South Korea, but can last eight to 10 hours if arguments escalate.
