Constitutional Court begins president's impeachment trial

Yoon’s legal team attends first preparatory hearing, despite concerns over 'deliberate delay tactic'

By Jung Da-hyun

The Constitutional Court officially began the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk Yeol, Friday, over his Dec. 3 imposition of martial law, vowing to swiftly proceed with the case.

Despite earlier concerns over its "deliberate delay tactic," Yoon’s legal defense team attended the first preparatory hearing and submitted a power of attorney on the same day.

With a defense team now in place to manage the impeachment trial and related investigations, the proceedings of trial are expected to progress as planned. The court scheduled the next preparatory hearing at 2 p.m. on Jan. 3

A preparatory hearing serves as a procedural step where legal representatives from both sides outline key issues, submit necessary evidence requests and plan witness arrangements to ensure smooth proceedings in the upcoming trial.

Typically, during a preparatory hearing, representatives for both the plaintiff and the defendant present their initial positions, organize the main points of contention, and coordinate on witnesses, evidence and the trial timeline.

Since Dec. 17, the president had not received documents from the court or submitted the requested materials related to the impeachment proceedings, raising concerns about a potential strategy to delay the process.

His legal team officially submitted a power of attorney on the day of the preparatory hearing, 13 days after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against him.

However, the defense team stated that they would decide at a later date whether to submit a power of attorney to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is investigating treason charges against Yoon related to his short-lived martial law decree.

The team includes Bae Bo-yoon, a former Constitutional Court scholar who worked as a spokesperson during the impeachment trial of former President Park Geun-hye, Kim Hong-il, former head of the Korea Communications Commission and Yun Gap-geun, former chief of the Daegu High Prosecutors Office.

Kim has been appointed as the chief representative of Yoon’s legal team, while Yun will manage communications.

The hearing brought the legal representatives of both Yoon and the National Assembly to outline their cases, submit witness and evidence lists and coordinate the debates of upcoming proceedings.

Representing Yoon were Bae, Yun and lawyer Bae Jin-han, who is an alumnus of Yoon.

The National Assembly was represented by Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), chair of the legislation and judiciary committee.

Justices Lee Mi-son and Cheong Hyung-sik have been assigned to oversee the preparatory proceedings.

Yoon’s legal defense stated they would challenge the legality of the National Assembly’s impeachment motion as a primary issue in the trial. They also questioned the Constitutional Court’s process of delivering documents, claiming procedural flaws.

While they acknowledged basic facts related to the declaration of the martial law on Dec. 3 and the issuance of a proclamation, they stated that specific details regarding the sequence of events, Cabinet meeting minutes and proclamation announcements would be clarified.

The defense team further argued that the martial law declaration did not violate the Constitution or laws, and even if it did, any breaches were not severe enough to justify Yoon’s removal from office.

On the other hand, the National Assembly’s side requested the Constitutional Court to obtain key documents, including arrest warrant applications and interrogation records, from prosecutors, police and military prosecutors.

It also filed an initial list of 15 witnesses, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

Regarding Yoon’s appearance in court, Yun, a member of his defense team, stated that he plans to personally address the impeachment trial at an appropriate time but without specific details.

Ex-defense minister indicted

Prosecutors indicted the former defense minister, who is currently in detention, on charges of insurrection, abuse of power and obstruction of justice for his alleged involvement in botched imposition of martial law. This marks the first indictment related to the Dec. 3 martial law declaration.

Kim faces charges of abuse of power and is accused of playing an integral role in orchestrating the insurrection.

He was indicted for deploying troops from the Capital Defense Command and Special Warfare Command to block the National Assembly and to obstruct its efforts to nullify the martial law.

In addition, it still remains whether Yoon will comply with a summons issued by the joint investigation team.

The team, comprising the CIO, the National Police Agency and the investigation unit of the Ministry of National Defense, has issued the summons ordering Yoon to appear at its office at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

This marks the third summons issued by the CIO, typically the maximum allowed before an investigation agency pursues an arrest warrant.

The CIO reportedly considered seeking a warrant after Yoon refused to appear after its second summons but decided to issue a third summons in order to eliminate any doubts about procedural flaws.

Yoon’s legal team, however, has maintained that addressing the ongoing impeachment trial takes precedence over cooperating with the investigation into his short-lived martial law decree.

If Yoon fails to respond to the summons again, it is highly likely that the CIO will move forward with requesting an arrest warrant.

Meanwhile, police conducted raids on the presidential safe house in Samcheong-dong and the Presidential Security Service office in Yongsan, Friday, aiming to seize CCTV footage as part of their investigation. But the attempt to conduct a raid ultimately fell through.

The safe house has been identified as the location where the president met with key officials, including the defense minister, Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency and Kim Bong-sik, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, to discuss plans for martial law prior to its declaration.