South Korea's Constitutional Court adjourned the opening session of the impeachment trial of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol within minutes on Tuesday, after the embattled leader did not attend court.

South Korea looks set for a dramatic political showdown this week as impeachment proceedings kick off against suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, who remains holed up in his fortified residence evading arrest for a separate criminal investigation.

Thousands of South Koreans have gathered for rival demonstrations in the capital Seoul, either demanding the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed December 3 martial law decree or calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid.

For weeks, impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has holed up inside his guarded residential compound as investigators try to figure out how to detain him. Scuffles occurred Jan. 3 when dozens of investigators were stopped from entering the compound by presidential security forces,