President Yoon of South Korea attends a court hearing over the extension of detention

Yoon Suk Yeol, the impeached president of South Korea, appeared in court on Saturday to contest investigators’ plea to prolong his imprisonment on insurrection-related charges.

In a criminal investigation into his brief imposition of martial law on December 3, Yoon became the nation’s first sitting president to be detained on Wednesday.

On Friday, investigators asked for a detention warrant so they could keep Yoon for an additional 20 days. Since his arrest, he has been detained at the Seoul Detention Center and has refused to speak to investigators.

Yoon went back to Seoul Detention Center after the hearing to await the court’s ruling, which is anticipated on Saturday or Sunday.

At Seoul Western District Court, the session went on for about five hours. According to Yonhap, who cited Yoon’s attorney, Yoon talked for almost forty minutes during the hearing.

“Yoon honestly clarified and addressed inquiries about evidence, legal concepts, and factual links… Following the hearing, Yoon Kab-keun, Yoon’s attorney, stated, “We will wait for the court’s decision in silence.”

According to his attorney, Yoon had made the decision to attend the hearing “to restore his honor by directly explaining the legitimacy of emergency martial law and that insurrection is not established” earlier on Saturday.

TV stations showed Yoon being escorted by a group of about a dozen automobiles and police motorcycles both to and from the prison facility.

Following the start of the hearing at approximately 2 p.m. (0500 GMT), thousands of supporters gathered behind a police barricade that chanted “release the president” after police broke up a group of Yoon’s supporters who had blocked the court gate in the morning.

“There are so many supporters of President Yoon Suk Yeol around the court, who still believe in the rule of law and are defending the president,” said Lee Se-ban, who is thirty years old.

According to a Reuters witness, police detained many individuals for attempting to enter the court premises, including a young guy who attempted to flee.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials accused Yoon of insurrection, one of the few crimes from which an incumbent South Korean president is not immune.