South Korea’s Yoon asked to give statements for impeachment trial; summoned again by prosecution
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President Yoon Suk Yeol is not legally mandated to submit an answer or attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SEOUL – A Constitutional Court justice said on Dec 17 that the court has asked President Yoon Suk Yeol to provide written answers for his impeachment trial
Kim Hyung-du, one of the six justices currently serving on the top court’s bench, told reporters that the court on Dec 16 notified Mr Yoon it has received the National Assembly’s impeachment resolution against him and he is to submit a written answer to it. Mr Kim added that Mr Yoon was asked to give the answers within seven days.
The president is not legally mandated to submit an answer or attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial, which is slated for Dec 27.
A joint investigation unit also launched a raid on Mr Yoon’s security service in an attempt to obtain phone records, Yonhap news agency said.
The unit had previously asked that the suspended president appear to answer questions on Dec 18 but were rebuffed by his office, an official told reporters.
When asked whether the trial would conclude by May, Mr Kim said: “We would have to see about that.” The terms of two of the six sitting judges of the Constitutional Court will expire in April; an impeachment ruling must be backed by the approval of at least six justices of the Constitutional Court.
The bench is currently missing three justices due to a parliamentary feud over the judge nominations, but the Constitutional Court reaffirmed on Dec 16 that deliberation of Mr Yoon’s impeachment case is possible. The law mandates at least seven justices deliberate an impeachment case, but the clause has been temporarily suspended since November.
The ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea have each submitted their allocated nominations for the three new justices. But the ruling party’s floor leader Kwon Seong-dong said Dec 17 that Han Duck-soo, the prime minister and acting president, cannot appoint a Constitutional Court justice.
He said while it is within the acting president’s power to appoint justices, it should not be done without the sitting president being officially impeached.
In addition to the impeachment trial, Mr Yoon is also facing a criminal investigation for insurrection after declaring emergency martial law on Dec 3
If Mr Yoon appears before the prosecution, it would mark the first time in history that an incumbent president would be questioned by prosecutors as a suspect in a criminal investigation. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK, AFP
