South Korea’s detained president to appear in court

A picture of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is seen on a vehicle during a rally to oppose his impeachment outside of a detention centre in Uiwang, South Korea on Friday (Lee Jin-man/AP)

South Korea’s impeached president will appear at a hearing in a Seoul court on Saturday to oppose a formal arrest over last month’s imposition of martial law, his lawyers said.

Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been in detention since he was apprehended on Wednesday in a massive law enforcement operation at his residence, faces potential rebellion charges linked to his declaration of martial law on December 3, which set off the country’s most serious political crisis since its democratisation in the late 1980s.