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At Constitutional Court hearing, Yoon's legal team decries 'harassment, hostility'

Published: 03 Jan. 2025, 17:09

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

President Yoon Suk Yeol's legal representative, attorney Bae Bo-yoon, enters the courtroom at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 3. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s legal representatives appeared at the impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Friday and said that the president is “being harassed” while Yoon himself refused to comply to with the execution of the arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) the same day.

At the second trial preparation proceedings held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Friday, Yoon’s representatives said “we have become weak and isolated beyond imagination,” and that “this is the first time that we have seen a president in a presidential country fall to such a state.”

“The media will say that Yoon has committed insurrection because he deployed the military on the day of martial law, and an arrest warrant was issued based on this,” the president's representatives claimed. "The media is very hostile right now."

Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant by the prosecution, Yoon’s representatives said “the dangerous idea of arresting and detaining the president by using physical force is rampant, and this is driving constitutional order into a civil war state,” adding, "We earnestly request that the court issue a decision on an injunction as soon as possible so that we can defeat the disorder that destroys the rule of law and the rule of force.”

Yoon’s representatives also said "the trial should not be delayed too long, but it should not be rushed either," and "180 days is a guaranteed period for the impeachment trial, and the accused can never yield."

The Constitutional Court Act stipulates that the court must issue a final decision within 180 days from the date it receives the case. Based on this, the president's side is demanding that the trial be held for at least 180 days.

Regarding the impeachment by the National Assembly, Yoon’s representatives argued "the opposition party impeached the ruling party, so it is only a half-baked impeachment," and "the impeachment itself is half-legitimate and half-unfair.

“A hasty trial following a hasty impeachment cannot be tolerated," Yoon’s representatives said. "We must present a lot of evidence and question many witnesses."

His legal team also claimed that "indiscriminate impeachments" were the basis for the martial law declaration, adding, “Whether the previously filed impeachments werer justified is closely related to the impeachment trial in this case.

"A fact-finding investigation into the impeachment cases and a ruling by the Constitutional Court should come first,” the representatives said.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]