Court spokesperson Cheon Jae-hyun told reporters that Yoon’s legal team have requested to call “at least 24 individuals” as witnesses, including election-related officials.
Yoon and his legal team have sought to justify his attempt to suspend civilian rule as a necessary measure due to election fraud, after the opposition won parliamentary elections by a landslide last year.
According to pool reporters, he appeared in court wearing a suit – not his standard-issue prison uniform, which he has been required to wear since he was formally arrested on Sunday.
Yoon’s legal team said he wanted to “personally appear to explain the circumstances surrounding the declaration of martial law”.
“ENTIRELY INCOMPREHENSIBLE”
If the court rules against Yoon, he will lose the presidency and elections will be called within 60 days.
The lawyers prosecuting the case, who were selected by the parliament, slammed the comments made by Yoon and his lawyers as “largely contradictory, irrational, and unclear, making them entirely incomprehensible”.
“If they continue to evade responsibility as they did today, it will only work against them in the impeachment trial and cause even greater disappointment among the public,” they added.
Yoon stayed away from the first two hearings last week, but the trial – which could last months – will continue even if he is absent.
Yoon has also been refusing to submit to separate questioning by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), the body in charge of the criminal probe into his martial law declaration.
It said it had attempted to compel him to attend but due to the “suspect’s continued refusal to cooperate” they abandoned the efforts.
As Yoon is attending the impeachment trial, questioning him “will be difficult” on Tuesday, a CIO official told reporters
