The January 14 hearing took place exactly one month after Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the South Korean parliament on December 14, 2024. Yonhap reported that because Yoon was not present, the hearing ended early after only four minutes. The second hearing will take place on January 16, and the court will continue the trial regardless of whether Yoon appears or not.

Yoon's lawyers had previously said the president would not attend the hearing due to concerns about his personal safety, as South Korean investigators attempt to arrest him on charges of rebellion and abuse of power related to the martial law decree he issued in early December.

In addition, Mr. Yoon's lawyer requested that Judge Chung Kye-sun be removed from the list of eight judges hearing the impeachment case, on the grounds that Ms. Yoon used to be the leader of a progressive legal research group, so Mr. Yoon's side was concerned that it might affect the fair judgment. However, this request was rejected by the remaining seven judges.

Starting from December 14, 2024, the Constitutional Court of South Korea will have 180 days to hear and decide whether to uphold the impeachment and removal of Mr. Yoon, or to reinstate the South Korean president.

In another development, police and anti-corruption agency officials met on January 13 to discuss plans to arrest Mr. Yoon for a second time, after the first attempt was thwarted by presidential guards.

In addition, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense pledged on January 14 not to mobilize units to protect the presidential residence to obstruct the second arrest warrant. The first attempt to arrest Mr. Yoon failed when the investigating officials encountered obstruction from the Presidential Security Service (PSS), a force that affirmed its position of having the obligation to protect the president.