South Korea's court holds 2nd preparatory hearing of President Yoon's criminal trial

SEOUL - South Korea's court on Monday held the second preparatory hearing of the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol's criminal trial.

The second preliminary hearing was held at a courtroom of the Seoul Central District Court around 10:00 am local time (0100 GMT) to clarify the main disputes and evidence.

Yoon was absent from the hearing after attending the first one on Feb 20. The first formal hearing was scheduled for April 14.

Finance and foreign ministers will be questioned during the first formal hearing, as witnesses at the request of the prosecution.

Yoon was released on March 8 as the prosecution decided not to appeal against a court's release approval.

The Seoul Central District Court approved the release of the arrested president, accepting Yoon's request to cancel his detention that was made by his legal team on Feb 4.

Yoon was apprehended in the presidential office on Jan 15 and was indicted under detention on Jan 26 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection, becoming the country's first sitting president to be arrested and prosecuted.

Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of Dec 3 last year, but it was revoked by the opposition-led National Assembly hours later.

A motion to impeach Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec 14, and since then the constitutional court has held 11 hearings on Yoon's impeachment.