The Tamesis
December 23, 2024
Seoul – Embattled President Yoon Seok-yeol has hit back with his own legal action against opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, while as of Monday he still refused to accept documents delivered by the Constitutional Court related to his impeachment trial, with the court’s response expected around Monday’s deadline Release an official statement.
Yoon's lawyer Seok Dong-hyun said late Sunday that he would file a criminal complaint on behalf of Yoon against Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, accusing Lee of falsely accusing his client of rebellion and incitement.
The president is under investigation on charges of rebellion and abuse of power for declaring martial law on December 3 and, in connection with this, for ordering the arrest of lawmakers and National Electoral Commission officials.
“It's unclear which Democratic Party top committee member led the charge (to bring rebellion charges against Yoon), so I will submit the documents against Lee to the Police National Investigation Office tomorrow,” Shi wrote on his Facebook page.
Seok, who has been Yoon's confidant for about 40 years, dating back to their days as college classmates, has repeatedly claimed that his client is innocent of the rebellion charges. He claimed that Yin never planned to arrest anyone during the unfortunate martial law period that lasted only six hours on the night of December 3-4.
On Friday, the main opposition party accused the lawyer himself of spreading pro-rebellion propaganda.
In addition to the criminal investigation, the South Korean Congress passed an impeachment motion by a vote of 204 to 85 on December 14, and Yoon also faces an impeachment trial by the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court sent legal documents for the case to Yoon on December 16, including notices of legal proceedings, subpoenas and preparation orders, but the president refused to serve these documents at his residence and office. Yoon has been given until Monday to submit a written response to the documents, although he is considered unlikely to comply as he has refused to even accept them.
Such delays are unprecedented in a presidential impeachment trial. Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye were the only presidents whose impeachment cases were approved by the National Assembly, and they both immediately accepted service of documents from the Constitutional Court.
The country's top legal authority on the constitution told reporters it may issue a formal statement on the matter on Monday. One option for the court is to declare that the documents were served even if Yin did not accept them.
An impeachment trial can proceed without the defendant submitting a written response to the court.
