
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on January 21, 2025. PHOTO: AFP
ASIA NEWS NETWORK | Published January 22, 2025
SEOUL – President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared before the Constitutional Court of Korea on Tuesday for his impeachment trial and denied that he had ordered to drag out lawmakers from the parliament on the night he declared martial law on Dec. 3.
Defending himself against a National Assembly-approved bill seeking his removal over his martial law declaration, Yoon refuted the opponent’s claim that he intended to obstruct the parliament’s vote to lift the law.
“If it is claimed that the martial law had obstructed the parliament by deploying the military, does that mean martial law will continue indefinitely? I don’t think so,” he said after watching the surveillance camera footages submitted as evidence from the National Assembly which showed troops using force to enter the Assembly building.
“In South Korea, the National Assembly and the media hold more authority than the president. Even if I were to try to block the resolution to lift martial law, it could still be carried out in a venue other than the National Assembly,” Yoon told the justice.
He added that “if someone were to try to block (passing the resolution to lift the martial law), it would be an action that cannot be possibly managed afterwards.”
When the court’s acting chief Moon Hyung-bae asked Yoon if he had given a memo to then-Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok to set aside a budget for the operation of the emergency legislature, Yoon said no.
“I only knew (about the memo) long after I lifted the martial law declaration and read about it on the news, which was very inaccurate. The only one who would draft (such a memo) would be the Defense Minister, but since he had been arrested, I could not check with him. The details (in the memo) itself are pretty contradictory, too,” Yoon told the justice.
Yoon is the first sitting president in the country’s history to become a criminal suspect. He entered the courtroom at 2 p.m. in a navy suit, a shirt and a red tie, instead of the prison attire he has to wear in his 10-square-meter solitary cell at Seoul Detention Center.
When the court’s acting chief Moon asked if Yoon had any words before starting the session, Yoon shortly said that he felt “sorry to the justices” to have caused concern.
“Throughout my public service career, I have firmly upheld the belief in liberal democracy. As the Constitutional Court exists to safeguard the Constitution, I kindly ask our justices to carefully examine all aspects of this case,” Yoon told justices.
Tuesday’s hearing, the third of Yoon’s impeachment trial, was the first Yoon attended.
Neither former presidents Roh Moo-hyun nor Park Geun-hye, who faced impeachment trials in 2004 and 2017, respectively, appeared in person before the Constitutional Court.
During the trial, Yoon and his lawyers sought to justify the martial law declaration as necessary to address suspicions about the credibility of the election system.
Yoon denied this was a conspiracy theory.
“The person who knows the best about the case is the president, myself. The National Assembly has been calling the election fraud a conspiracy and such an allegation is a logic created afterward to justify the martial law declaration.
“But before the martial law was declared, there were already doubts about the fairness of elections. (So sending troops to the National Election Commission on Dec. 3) was not to uncover election fraud itself, but we wanted to see if we could check what system was being operated, after we found many errors after checking the computerized equipment at the National Intelligence Service in October 2023. So it was not to raise conspiracy theories that the NEC was fraudulent and untrustworthy, but to verify the facts,” Yoon told justices.
During the trial, Yoon’s lawyers showed pictures of irregular ballots with stamp seals crushed or stiff papers as evidence of election fraud.
Yoon’s team also focused on explaining how the declaration of martial law was “merely a formal procedure without any intention of enforcement.”
The purpose was to appeal to the people, warn them against an unprecedented and unparalleled legislative overreach, and prevent actions detrimental to national interests in diplomacy and security. It was aimed at stopping the collapse of the liberal democratic order,” Yoon’s lawyer Cha Ki-hwan told justices.
“It was not enforceable, and there were no plans to implement it. The necessary execution mechanisms were not included. Consequently, Proclamation No. 1 was drafted by Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, referencing precedents for martial law, solely to fulfill the formalities,” he said, sitting next to Yoon in the courtroom.
Ahead of Yoon’s appearance at the Constitutional Court, police tightened security in the area. According to police, 64 units comprising 4,000 police officers were deployed, and vehicle barricades were set up around the block where the court is located.
Earlier in the day, the court said details about Yoon’s security and his entry process to the courtroom were “confidential,” based on the agreement with the presidential security team.
But based on precedents, it was expected that Yoon would be transported from the Seoul Detention Center to the Constitutional Court in a Ministry of Justice vehicle and enter the courtroom through an alternate route.
As Yoon continues to assert the legitimacy of the martial law declaration and criticize the opposition-led impeachment, the case has heightened tensions among his staunch supporters.
Following the detention warrant issued Sunday, Yoon’s supporters staged a violent raid on the Seoul Western District Court on the same day, which led to increased calls for reinforced security at the Constitutional Court.
The court, with eight justices in a nine-member bench, is tasked with either upholding or overturning Yoon’s impeachment by June 11. The justices already announced a plan to hold eight hearings on Yoon’s trial by Feb. 13.
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SOURCE: www.ann.com
RELATED: South Korea’s Yoon denies ordering arrest of lawmakers during martial law decree
A news broadcast showing impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as he attends a trial at the Constitutional Court. Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
CNN | Published January 22, 2025
Seoul, South Korea (Reuters) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended on Tuesday a Constitutional Court hearing of his impeachment trial where he denied ordering military commanders to drag lawmakers out of parliament during his short-lived bid to impose martial law.
Near the start of the hearing, Yoon said he had worked in public service with “a firm commitment to free democracy,” when invited by the acting chief justice, Moon Hyung-bae, to speak.
Dressed in a navy-colored suit with a burgundy tie, Yoon, a career prosecutor before his 2022 election as president, pledged to answer any questions the court might have.
Yoon has been incarcerated since last week under a separate criminal probe on charges of leading an insurrection with his attempt to impose martial law in early December, a move that shocked the nation and was overturned within hours by parliament.
Yoon told the hearing that special forces troops sent to parliament on Dec. 3 were not there to disable the legislature or prevent it from blocking his martial law because he knew such an action would have led to an indefensible crisis.
“In this country, parliament and news media are far more powerful than the president, in a far superior position,” he told the court.
His lawyers outlined arguments in defense of Yoon’s martial law declaration, saying it was meant to sound the alarm over abuses committed by the opposition Democratic Party.
They argued the opposition’s actions had paralyzed government and pushed the country’s democratic and constitutional order to the brink of collapse.
“The decree was intended simply to establish the format of martial law and never intended to be executed, nor was it possible to execute it because of the potential for conflict with higher-level laws,” lawyer Cha Gi-hwan told the court.
Cha also denied testimony by military commanders involved in the martial law declaration who said Yoon and his top aides ordered the arrest of some members of parliament who had politically clashed with the president.
The opposition Democratic Party, joined by minority parties and also 12 members of Yoon’s People Power Party, voted with a two-thirds majority to impeach Yoon on Dec. 14.
Helicopters landing at parliament
The Constitutional Court began the trial on Dec. 27 to review an impeachment motion that accused Yoon of violating his constitutional duty by imposing martial law with no justifiable grounds.
The parliament’s legal team presented testimony from military commanders and video footage showing military helicopters landing on parliament grounds with special forces troops breaking into the main building, as well as troops moving in on the National Election Commission.
One of the lawyers also criticized unproven claims of irregularities at the election commission, which Yoon cited as a factor for justifying martial law.
“In South Korea’s current national chaos, the conspiracy theory of election fraud can destroy our community itself,” said the lawyer.
The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to decide whether to remove Yoon from office permanently or reinstate him.
Yoon was driven to the hearing from the Seoul Detention Centre, where he is being held, in a correctional service vehicle escorted by a Presidential Security Service motorcade.
He was permitted to change from the khaki prison uniform he currently has to wear.
After the hearing, Yoon visited a medical facility to receive medical attention with prior authorization from the head of the detention center, the Justice Ministry which oversees correctional service said in a statement.
It did not provide further details on privacy grounds.
Yoon’s decision to attend the impeachment hearing contrasts with his vigorous resistance to criminal proceedings against him where he has refused to answer summons by investigators or attend interrogation sessions.
Yoon’s legal team has denied he masterminded an insurrection, a crime in South Korea punishable by life imprisonment or even technically by the death penalty.
Security was heightened at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, after a mob of angry Yoon supporters went on a rampage through the district court that issued a warrant to extend his detention early on Sunday.
Dozens of police buses were lined bumper-to-bumper on both sides of the street, keeping hundreds of Yoon supporters more than 100 meters (109 yards) away from the court.
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SOURCE: www.edition.cnn.com
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