
Suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial on Thursday, his lawyers said, as former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun is slated to appear and testify as well.
Yoon's legal team said that as of now, the impeached president will attend all of the legal proceedings regarding confirmation of his impeachment. The motion to impeach him was passed by the National Assembly on Dec. 14.
He is also under criminal investigation for charges of leading an insurrection and committing abuse of power in his Dec. 3 martial law declaration and orders to the military that are believed to be illegal. As of yesterday, Yoon had refused questioning by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials six times on these charges.
During Tuesday’s hearing, in which he became the country's first sitting president to appear at their own impeachment trial, he denied giving the order to "drag the lawmakers out" of the National Assembly to block them from voting to nullify his martial law decree the night of Dec. 3-4, and claimed that the statements by military officials who said they received his orders to drag the lawmakers out of the parliament were also false.
He also claimed he never ordered the arrest of former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik. The two names were alleged to be on a list of prominent political figures and outspoken opponents to be arrested during the state of martial law.
Yoon has been detained at the Seoul Detention Center since arrest on Jan. 15.
Thursday's hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. will feature the disgraced ex-defense minister as well, chosen for witness questioning by Yoon's legal representatives. Kim -- who headed the ministry at the time of the martial law -- was the one who wrote the first draft of the martial law decree.
He will be questioned first by the legal representatives of Yoon and then of the National Assembly. The ex-minister could possibly also be questioned by the suspended president himself, although Yoon would need to obtain permission from acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae to do so.
Kim and Yoon had clashed previously on the martial law decree, more specifically on its first clause which banned all political activities such as activities of the National Assembly -- which goes against the Constitution and which the president has no authority to do, even under martial law. Yoon's legal team claimed on Dec. 16 that Kim made a mistake with the problematic clause while copying down martial law decrees of past administrations, but Kim's lawyer said the same day he made no such mistakes and that the whole decree had been reviewed by the president himself.
Kim will make his first public appearance at Thursday's hearing since resigning after martial law was lifted following the parliamentary vote to nullify it. He is also facing criminal charges of insurrection and abuse of power, and is under criminal investigation while in detention.