South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol will not attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial next week because of safety concerns, his lawyer said on Sunday. Yoon has been holed up in the presidential residence and protected by an elite guard force since being suspended and impeached last month following a short-lived declaration of martial law that plunged the country into political chaos.

For weeks, impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has remained in his compound and refused to respond to detention and search warrants.

The president's conservative supporters contend that the country has been overrun by North Korea sympathizers conspiring to destroy South Korea’s freedoms.