Yoon attends court hearing for first time

Impeached leader defends martial law decree as prosecution decries remarks

SEOUL — South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol appeared at the Constitutional Court for the first time on Tuesday, and vowed to cooperate with the judges who will decide whether to remove him from office.

The country was plunged into political chaos by Yoon's Dec 3 martial law declaration, which lasted just six hours before lawmakers voted it down.

They later impeached him, stripping him of his duties. He also became the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested in a criminal probe on insurrection grounds.