Asia-Pacific Newsweek
December 24, 2024
SEOUL – Mr. Yoon prioritized defending himself before the Constitutional Court over investigations, confidants say
South Korea's Constitutional Court said on Monday that a preliminary hearing will be held as planned on December 27, despite President Yoon Seok-yeol's continued refusal to accept the court order.
The court must make a final decision on Yin's impeachment within 180 days and said six judges had decided to consider Yin's written request on December 20.
“Pursuant to Article 187 of the Civil Procedure Code and Article 61, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code, written requests may be deemed 'received' when these documents arrive at the recipient's address, regardless of acceptance or rejection,” Court News Official Li Jin told the media.
The court added that it sent three documents. The first was a notice of registration for his trial, which included a copy of the bill of impeachment and a statement for him to prove his case. Next is a notice of the hearing date with a request to appear in court on the specified date. The last document was one in which the court ordered Yoon to prepare a statement of his opinions and submit evidence such as cabinet meeting minutes.
Yoon's deadline for submitting such documents is December 24.
Regardless of whether Yin receives the documents in person, the court said the first preliminary hearing will be held on a scheduled date of Dec. 27. The judges held their first trial session last Thursday.
Asked whether Yoon's apparent refusal to accept the court's request would affect the later stages of the trial, Lee said that would be decided by “the two chief judges” – Lee Mi-sun and Jung Hyung. .
Concerns surfaced about delays in the trial, which may have been caused by Yin not appointing a lawyer to represent him in court. When asked, the court responded it would not discuss something that had not yet happened.
“(The decision on further proceedings) rests entirely with the two chief justices and we have nothing to say about that,” Lee said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Seok Dong-hyun, a close confidant of Yoon Zheng who is building a team of legal representatives for the president's trial, dismissed criticism that he was delaying proceedings by failing to comply with authorities.
“He needs preparation time to sincerely prepare for impeachment proceedings,” Shi told reporters on Monday, adding that the concern was a “rush to judgment.”
Seok-suk said Yoon was “under no obligation” to comply with the investigative agency's demands because he was still president despite being temporarily suspended. Shi also stressed that Yoon believed that defending himself at the Constitutional Court trial should take precedence over any ongoing investigation against him.
Earlier in the day, the Office for the Investigation of Senior Officials' Corruption, which is investigating Yun for alleged rebellion and abuse of power after martial law was imposed on December 3, announced that requests for Yun to attend the investigation had also not been met.
This is the second time the CIO has asked Yoon to appear, giving him until 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The court made repeated attempts last week to send the documents by mail, email and court staff, but failed to reach the Blue House or Yoon's official residence because the presidential security service refused to accept them. Documents sent Monday were returned to the court.
This sets Mr Yoon apart from the country's two previous presidential impeachment trials. In 2004, former President Roh Moo-hyun received a written request from the court the day after the National Assembly passed the impeachment case on March 12, 2004.
In 2016, former President Park Geun-hye received a written request from the court just one hour after the impeachment bill was passed. A week later, Parker's attorneys filed a declaration and authorization with the court.
