PRES. YOON ATTENDS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL AGAIN

Welcome to yet another edition of Press Perspective.

It's Thursday January 23rd.. here in Seoul.

I'm Min Sunhee.

While President Yoon Suk Yeol remains reluctant to cooperate in the investigation led by anti-corruption officials he appears quite dedicated to the impeachment case against him at the Constitutional Court.

For more I have Thomas Maresca with the news agency UPI.

Thomas welcome.

I also have freelance journalist Raphael Rashid with us.

Raphael it's good to have you here.

1) Thomas, you covered the president's attendance earlier on Tuesday of the third hearing into the impeachment case against him. What was the gist of your coverage?

2) Raphael, separately, anti-corruption investigators have had little success in questioning the president over his abuse of office. What has been the focus of the foreign media with regard to the ongoing investigation into insurrection charges?

3) Raphael, you covered the violence by rioters at the Seoul Western District Court last weekend following the court's order for a formal arrest of the president. What have you been hearing?

4) Thomas, parallels have been drawn between the 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th by pro-Trump supporters and last Sunday's storming of the Seoul Western District Court by pro-Yoon supporters. What are your takeaways?

5) And Thomas, what can you tell us about the legal consequences faced by the rioters in the U.S. before Mr. Trump's pardon earlier this week?

6) Also Raphael, foreign media continue to commend the people of Korea for protecting democracy. What are your takeaways as a journalist based here?

7) Thomas, the words of wisdom are "democracy is a work in progress." Do you suppose Korea is witnessing these words in action as we speak?

8) Raphael, some fear the latest political events may negatively reflect on Korea's credibility and reliability on the international stage. Is this a valid concern?

9) Thomas, does the political turmoil in Korea places its neighbors on shaky ground as well?

10) Raphael, how do you assess the coverage of Korea's political unrest by its East Asian neighbors?

All right.