People Power Party Rep. Choo Kyung-ho appeared at a Seoul court Tuesday to attend a hearing on his potential arrest over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed imposition of martial law.
The three-term lawmaker arrived at the Seoul Central District Court after special counsel Cho Eun-suk last month filed a warrant for Choo's arrest on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection.
"(I) hope for a fair judgment from the court without political bias," Choo told reporters ahead of the hearing.
The court could decide as early as later in the day on whether to issue the warrant.
The charge is related to allegations Choo, then floor leader of the PPP, obstructed his party's lawmakers from taking part in a parliamentary vote to lift the martial law decree after it was imposed on Dec. 3.
Choo, once considered a key ally of Yoon, is accused of deliberately and repeatedly changing the venue of an emergency party meeting on the night of Dec. 3 at the request of the then president.
Due to the changes, only 18 of the PPP's 108 lawmakers took part in the parliamentary vote to lift Yoon's decree, which passed unanimously early the next morning among the 190 lawmakers present.
The National Assembly approved a motion for Choo's arrest Thursday. By law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliament is in session and can only be put under arrest with consent from the Assembly.
Choo has rejected the allegations, arguing that he changed the party meeting's venue from the National Assembly to the party's headquarters as police restricted access to the parliament compound. (Yonhap)
