Synopsis
Current and former aides of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are planning a visit to the impeached leader at his detention center after the Lunar New Year holiday. This follows his controversial declaration of martial law and subsequent legal challenges.Key Takeaways
- Yoon's aides intend to visit the impeached President.
- The visit is pending necessary approvals.
- Yoon has been detained since December 19.
- He defends his martial law declaration.
- Yoon insists he acted within constitutional rights.
Seoul, Jan 29 (NationPress) Current and former aides to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are planning to visit the impeached leader at the detention center where he is being held, likely next week, according to a presidential official on Wednesday.
"The visit isn't confirmed yet as it requires approval, but we feel it's appropriate to pay him a visit," the senior official communicated via phone.
A former presidential staff member mentioned that they are looking to make the visit after the Lunar New Year holiday, which continues until Thursday.
Yoon has been detained at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, located south of the capital, since his formal arrest on December 19, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
On January 28, Yoon Suk Yeol stood by his choice to declare martial law during a discussion with his legal team on Tuesday.
Seok Dong-hyeon, one of Yoon's attorneys, informed the press that Yoon had questioned how his decision to impose martial law on December 3 could be viewed as an act of insurrection when "everything was carried out within the confines of the Constitution."
Seok and other lawyers met with Yoon at the Seoul Detention Center on Tuesday, just two days after Yoon became the first sitting South Korean president to be indicted while in detention.
Yoon faces allegations of colluding with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others to incite an insurrection on December 3 by declaring an unconstitutional and illegal state of emergency, despite no signs of war, armed conflict, or similar national crises.
He is also accused of deploying military forces to the National Assembly to obstruct lawmakers from voting against the martial law declaration and plotting to arrest significant political figures.
According to Seok, Yoon expressed that he exercised his constitutional rights to declare martial law to alert the public about the crisis facing the nation, especially with the primary opposition Democratic Party (DP) taking control of parliament.
Yoon emphasized that he promptly lifted the martial law once the National Assembly rejected his declaration.
