Yoon will accept court decision, says lawyer

SEOUL — South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court that is handling parliament's impeachment case against him, even if it decides to remove the suspended leader from office, his lawyer said on Thursday.

"So, if the decision is 'removal', it cannot but be accepted," Yoon's lawyer, Yoon Kab-keun, told a news conference.

Rulings by the court, one of the two highest courts in the country along with the Supreme Court, cannot be appealed.

The president earlier ignored the Constitutional Court's requests to submit legal briefs before the court began its hearing on Dec 27, but his lawyers have said he is willing to appear in person to argue his case.

He has defied repeated summons in a separate criminal investigation into allegations he masterminded insurrection with his Dec 3 martial law bid, which led to the first arrest warrant issued for a sitting president.

Yoon remained holed up at his residence in Seoul, where the Presidential Security Service has fortified the grounds with barbed wire and rows of vehicles blocking the roads, anticipating another attempt by law enforcement to detain him after last week's failed effort.

Seok Dong-hyeon, another lawyer advising Yoon, said on Thursday that the anti-corruption office's "reckless" attempts to detain Yoon would "provoke a significant backlash from outraged citizens".

'Civil war' warning

"It would essentially be a civil war situation," he said, adding attempts to detain Yoon are aimed at humiliating him by displaying him in handcuffs.

Separated by police lines and fences, thousands of Yoon's supporters and critics continued their daily rallies near his residence, shouting passionate slogans either vowing to protect him or calling for his ouster.

In another development, South Korean opposition parties introduced a bill on Thursday calling for an independent investigation into Yoon's martial law declaration.

The bill, jointly submitted by six parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party, proposes that a special prosecutor investigate whether the martial law decree constituted an attempted rebellion.

The opposition has claimed that an independent investigation is crucial because separate investigations led by the anti-corruption agency and public prosecutors have been hindered by Yoon's unwillingness to cooperate.

Agencies Via Xinhua