South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol denies ordering the arrest of lawmakers in the impeachment trial

Suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made his first appearance at an impeachment trial, where he denied ordering the arrest of lawmakers during the attempted martial law.

Parliament voted to impeach Yoon last month and last week The Constitutional Court has started the trial decide whether to permanently remove him from office.

Yoon also faces a separate criminal investigation into whether he led the rebellion. He has been in custody since last week.

Security was tight on Tuesday as Yoon was transported by van from the detention center, where he is being held, to the Constitutional Court.

Police formed human walls and set up riot barricades to prevent hundreds of his supporters who had gathered nearby from getting too close to him. Violence erupted last weekend as dozens of Yoon’s supporters clashed with police and broke into another courthouse.

On Tuesday, Yoon was asked if he had ordered military commanders to “pull out” lawmakers from parliament the night he declared martial law, to prevent them from reversing his order.

He replied, “No.”

Military commanders previously claimed that Yoon issued such an order on Dec. 3, after lawmakers scaled fences and broke through barricades to enter the parliament building and vote on Yoon’s state of emergency declaration.

“I am a person who has lived with a firm belief in liberal democracy,” Yoon said in his opening speech on Tuesday.

“Since the constitutional court exists to protect the constitution, I ask that you thoroughly examine all aspects of this case,” he told the judges.

During the hearing, which lasted nearly two hours, Yoon and his lawyers argued that the state of emergency order was “a formality that should not have been carried out.”

Yoon cited threats from “anti-state forces” and North Korea when he declared the state of emergency, but it soon became clear that his move was prompted not by external threats but by his own domestic political problems.

Lawyers prosecuting the case, who were appointed by parliament, accused Yoon and his lawyers of making “largely contradictory, irrational and unclear” comments.

“If they continue to avoid accountability as they did today, it will only work against them in the impeachment process and cause even more public disappointment,” prosecutors told reporters after the hearing.

Outside the courtroom, his supporters became more agitated and aggressive as they demanded Yoon’s release and immediate return to duty.

They were forced to stand a little further from the court due to heavy security. Waving their trademark combination of Korean and American flags, some wore Mag-style baseball caps emblazoned with the slogan “Make Korea Free Again,” an echo of a campaign slogan used by US President Donald Trump.

Some of their chants included calls for the execution of the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party, Lee Jae Myung, and the investigator handling Yoon’s criminal case.

Several supporters told the BBC they believed Yoon’s declaration of martial law was an attempt to protect the country’s democracy.

They accused the opposition party of being pro-China and pro-North Korea, and of wanting to turn South Korea into a communist country.

“This is a conflict between people who advocate communism and people who advocate democracy,” said Wongeun Seong, a 49-year-old businessman who joined the protest on his way back from lunch.

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyunwho allegedly proposed martial law to Yoon, will testify during the next hearing on Thursday.

Yoon will be removed from office if at least six of the eight members of the constitutional court vote to confirm the impeachment. Presidential elections must then be called within 60 days.

South Korea has been in political chaos since December 3rd. Thousands of protesters and supporters of Yoon took to the streets multiple times despite the winter cold.

The crisis has hit the country’s economy, weakening the won, and global credit rating agencies warn of weakening consumer and business sentiment.

Additional reporting by Hosu Lee in Seoul