Constitutional Court warns of political interference in Yoon's impeachment trial
Published: 31 Jan. 2025, 19:07
Updated: 31 Jan. 2025, 19:17
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- SEO JI-EUN
- [email protected]
![The Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 31. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/31/f2c589ee-3ee6-4bf4-b305-e2b0f1a74bd1.jpg)
The Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 31. [YONHAP]
The Constitutional Court expressed concern Friday over political interference in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment trial, warning that questioning the political inclinations of individual justices could "distort the trial’s nature and infringe upon judicial authority."
“The key issue in the presidential impeachment trial is whether the respondent’s actions violated the Constitution or the law and whether such violations are severe,” the court's spokesperson Cheon Jae-hyun said at a regular briefing on Friday, adding, “Rulings are made through an objective legal process and are not influenced by the personal inclinations of the justices.”
Cheon criticized political figures and media outlets for attempting to frame the justices as politically biased, warning that such narratives could misrepresent the impeachment trial and potentially undermine judicial independence.
Some members of Yoon's People Power Party took issue with acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae's past blog posts and decade-old social media interactions with Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, citing them as evidence of bias.
"The original blog post should be read in full and understood in context,” Moon said through the spokesperson. “As for the social media comments from ten years ago, I do not recall them. I am not Facebook friends with Lee, and I don't see how this relates to the impeachment trial.”
Some PPP members also demanded that Moon and two other justices recuse themselves from the impeachment proceedings due to alleged bias. If three justices were to step aside, only five would remain to handle the case.
Under the Constitutional Court Act, at least six justices must vote in favor to uphold an impeachment motion or rule a law unconstitutional.
BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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