President’s legal team attends Constitutional Court’s 1st hearing on impeachment trial
Lawyers representing President Yoon Suk Yeol said Friday that the president would deliver his thoughts in court "at the right time" as they attended the Constitutional Court's first preparatory hearing for a trial Friday.
During the hearing, Yoon's lawyers stated they would challenge the legitimacy of the procedures taken by the National Assembly for the impeachment motion, while questioning the legality of the Constitutional Court's request for the impeachment trial.
The court said Monday that it would consider Yoon to have received the original copy of the impeachment resolution after a series of failed deliveries, which was widely seen as Yoon intentionally avoiding it.
“Because the court’s way of delivering its document is found to be illegal, the defense team was not able to be ‘fully’ prepared for the first preparatory hearing. We will have ourselves ready for the next hearing,” Yun Gap-geun, one of Yoon’s lawyers told the reporters after the first hearing at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, central Seoul on Friday.
Yoon’s defense team was attending the hearing hours after the court announced that it received the notice of attorney appointment from Yoon in the morning.
Yoon launched his legal team almost two weeks after being suspended following a National Assembly impeachment vote on Dec. 14.
The team comprises Bae Bo-yoon, a former Constitutional Court scholar who worked as a court press officer during the impeachment trial of former President Park Geun-hye, Jin-han, a former judge and Yun, a former chief of the Daegu High Prosecutors Office.
The court appointed justices Lee Mi-sun and Jeong Hyun-sik as the two lead justices to oversee the evidence examination and arguments in the preparatory hearing.
The court, calling the case "most urgent" said it would swiftly proceed with Yoon's impeachment trial. The next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3.
When asked about whether the president will comply the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials’ third summons, Yun said the impeachment trial should take precedence over the ongoing investigation due to the issues surrounding the investigative authorities, including overlapping investigation and multiple summons.
“We will respond to the investigation after reviewing these matters,” Yun answered.
A separate team handling Yoon's defense against joint investigations over alleged insurrection and abuse of power will be led by Kim Hong-il, former head of the Korea Communications Commission.
After being suspended from his duties, Yoon defied multiple summons sent by the police, prosecution, declined to accept any documents from the Constitutional Court and failed to comply with any submission orders, including the Dec. 3 Cabinet meeting minutes and proclamations related to martial law.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly’s impeachment investigation committee, which serves as a prosecutor in the impeachment trial, asked the president to uphold the Constitution.
“Though the appellee is suspended from his duty, he holds the presidency who vowed to obey the law and protect the Constitution. We request and urge him to cooperate with the legal procedures of the court,” the impeachment investigation committee’s official told the reporters after the first preparatory trail.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
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