Yoon's impeachment trial Moon Hyung-bae, acting chief justice of the Constitutional Court, speaks at the court in Seoul on Jan. 14, 2025, to begin the first formal hearing of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law,

South Korea looks set for a dramatic political showdown this week as impeachment proceedings kick off against suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, who remains holed up in his fortified residence evading arrest for a separate criminal investigation.

South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol has become the country's first sitting president to be arrested, ending a weeks-long standoff between investigators and his personal security. Yoon, whose failed attempt to impose martial law plunged the country into turmoil and saw him impeached by parliament, is being investigated on charges of insurrection.