South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's lawyer said on Thursday that he would accept the decision of the Constitutional Court considering the impeachment case against him, even if it decided to remove the suspended president from office.
“So if the decision is deportation, it can only be accepted,” Yoon’s lawyer, Yoon Kap-keun, said at a press conference.
Rulings issued by the court, which is one of the country's two highest courts alongside the Supreme Court, cannot be appealed.
Yoon had earlier ignored the Constitutional Court's requests to submit legal briefs before the court begins its session on December 27, but his lawyers said he was ready to appear in person to defend his case.
The suspended president defied repeated summons in a separate criminal investigation into allegations that he masterminded the rebellion when he declared martial law on December 3, leading to the issuance of the first arrest warrant for a sitting president.
Yoon's lawyer said the president is currently at his official residence in Seoul and appears to be in good health.
Presidential security guards resisted an initial attempt to arrest Yoon last week, although he faces another attempt after a senior investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break the security siege and arrest Yoon.
Seok Dong-hyun, another lawyer advising Yoon, said Yoon viewed attempts to arrest him as politically motivated and aimed at humiliating him by displaying him in public in handcuffs.
He pointed to media reports that police planned to deploy armored vehicles and helicopters to drop special police units at presidential compounds in an attempt to arrest Yoon.
Seok said Yoon and his advisers view the unfolding situation as an ideological war between those committed to free democracy and those who oppose it.
“If something goes wrong, what we are saying is it could turn into a civil war,” Siok said.
Yoon said he declared martial law to eliminate “anti-state” forces that were paralyzing government functions and threatening democracy.
On Tuesday, the head of the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is leading the investigation, apologized for failing to arrest Yoon after a confrontation with hundreds of Presidential Security Service (PSS) agents, some carrying firearms. Military guards.
Oh did not object when lawmakers called for tough measures to crack down on Yoon's security, but refused to discuss the options being considered.
Lawyer Yoon said the president's arrest warrant was illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the CIO did not have a mandate to investigate a sitting president for sedition.
Instead, prosecutors must charge Yoon if there is evidence or request a formal arrest warrant and then Yoon will cooperate.
Hundreds of protesters supporting Yoon and demanding his arrest braved freezing temperatures in recent days to gather outside his residence.
On Thursday, the number dwindled as temperatures dropped below minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest recorded this winter.
Lawyer Yoon said the president was concerned about the safety of his supporters who gathered outside the residence.
“You know, the weather is very cold these days, and it will not be over in a short time. They do this all day, even late at night, so (the president) feels very sorry and grateful,” the lawyer said.
