South Korean Court Denies Request From Farmers' Group To Enter Seoul With Tractors For Rally

(MENAFN- IANS) Seoul, March 24 (IANS) A Seoul court on Monday denied a request from a farmers' group to use tractors during a planned rally in the capital later this week calling for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's removal from office, judicial sources said.

The Korean Peasants League had earlier filed an injunction against a police notice that restricted the group from staging the rally with tractors and trucks in Seoul on Tuesday.

The group had planned the demonstration to demand Yoon's ouster as the Constitutional Court delays its ruling on his impeachment, Yonhap news agency reported.

The Seoul Administrative Court partially accepted the injunction, allowing 20 trucks to enter the capital but banning tractors.

In December, the farmers' group staged a similar rally using tractors, which led to a drawn-out standoff with the police.

Earlier in the day, South Korea's Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's impeachment, reinstating him as acting President in the ongoing turmoil over suspended President Yoon's brief imposition of martial law.

The court's eight justices dismissed Han's impeachment in a 5-1 vote. Two justices voted to reject the impeachment motion entirely.

The ruling came three months after the National Assembly impeached the Prime Minister and then acting President over his alleged role in Yoon's December 3 declaration of martial law, among other reasons.

Meanwhile, the criminal trial on insurrection charges against Yoon will formally begin on April 14.

The Seoul Central District Court announced the date during the second pretrial hearing, saying the first formal hearing would be held that day on charges that Yoon incited an insurrection through his brief imposition of martial law in December.

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, two witnesses requested by the prosecution, will be asked to testify at the first hearing, the court said.

Both Choi and Cho conveyed their concerns to Yoon before he declared martial law on December 3, according to the prosecution's indictment.

Unlike during the first pretrial hearing, Yoon was not present at the court on Monday. Preparatory hearings do not require the defendant's attendance, Yonhap news agency reported.

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