South Korea's constitutional court on Thursday held the second hearing for the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was arrested the previous day over his martial law imposition.

During the second formal hearing, the court justices adopted evidence and witnesses and dismissed Yoon's defense counsel's claim that the evidence and witnesses were illegal.

Jung Chung-rae, head of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, urged the justices to promptly remove Yoon from office. The parliament side argued that Yoon lacked the will to uphold the Constitution and was unqualified to serve as president.

On the other hand, Yoon's legal team argued that declaring emergency martial law was not illegal and constituted a "high-level executive action" beyond the scope of judicial review, claiming that the impeachment motion was aimed at "seizing presidential power" and that there were procedural flaws in the two impeachment motions initiated and passed by the National Assembly.

Yoon's side on Wednesday requested to postpone the second hearing, citing his arrest and the ongoing investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). However, the court on Thursday rejected the request.

The next hearings will be held on 21 and 23 of January and on 4, 6, 11 and 13 of February.

The court held its first hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial on Tuesday. The debate ended in about four minutes due to Yoon's absence. Under South Korean law, if Yoon fails to appear for the second hearing, the court is authorized to proceed with the trial in his absence.

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