A second pre-trial hearing took place at the Constitutional Court this afternoon.
For details I have Oh Soo-young standing by live at the venue.
Soo-young I hear today’s session stretched on quite a bit amid some tense words between the two sides?
Yes, the hearing was expected to take around 40 minutes like last time, and during the preparatory hearing for former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment.
However, the session lasted for almost an hour and 20 minutes, as fiery opinions were exchanged.
Yoon’s team strongly contested the grounds suggested by the National Assembly’s impeachment panel, saying they were based on media reports and mere opinions also accusing the media of being hostile to the President.
They also contested the National Assembly’s decision not to include insurrection charges as one of the grounds for impeachment, saying it was fundamentally inconsistent with Parliament’s resolution to impeach the President.
When the presiding justice pointed out that Yoon’s team had not offered even a basic stance on why the marital law was ordered and why force had been used at the National Assembly, Yoon’s lawyers said it is impossible to simply offer a basic opinion and that as much as the President faces impeachment, the proceedings must be taken all the more seriously.
The National Assembly’s representatives accused Yoon’s team of delaying tactics, which it denied, and said they had been strenuously preparing for the trial.
However, as Yoon’s legal team walked into the Court for the hearing, attorney Bae Jin-han appeared to suggest they will continue to contest the proceedings.
“Without a proper evidence review, merely because a few Constitutional Court justices are nearing retirement, the process is being rushed. I won’t use the term ‘hasty,’ but if this process concludes that quickly, it defies common sense.”
So despite the trade of tough words the hearing itself though ended INCONCLUSIVELY?
That’s right. The Court once again tried to outline the main grounds for President Yoon’s impeachment trial, and produce a working list of evidence and witnesses each side would like to present throughout the trial.
However, the grounds for impeachment have not been finalized.
Last time, the National Assembly’s impeachment panel called for the declaration of martial law, and the proclamation of various orders, the lockdown and disruption of parliament, the search and seizure of the National Election Commission in the first hearing.
Today, they said they’d like to add Yoon’s alleged order to detain judicial figures including former Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo as one of the grounds for impeachment.
Otherwise, the two justices assigned to the case only got as far as confirming and partially selecting evidence and witnesses, mostly presented by the National Assembly’s representatives aiming for impeachment.
President Yoon’s side did not submit a list of witnesses, and asked for more time to prepare their evidence plan for the trial proceedings until the next preparatory hearing.
However, the Court decided not to schedule another trial preparatory hearing, but will go straight into the trial sessions beginning on January 14th at 2 PM, and the second two days later.
Right.
Now you touched upon this during your coverage yesterday.
I suppose we are looking ahead to some tangible advances in legal proceedings then given the presence of eight justices at the Constitutional Court now?
That’s right. The Constitutional Court now has eight justices one short of a full panel but the same number as when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2017.
Legal experts widely believe that the Court will decide on President Yoon’s impeachment by April before April 18th to be specific – when Senior Justices Moon Hyoung-bae and Lee Mi-sun are set to retire, as the Court is likely to issue a ruling before another vacancy complicates the process.
If we refer to past trials, the impeachment of former President Roh Moo-hyun was concluded within 63 days, while Park Geun-hye’s case took 91 days.
However, the timeline for Yoon’s proceedings largely depends on his cooperation.
If Yoon’s defense requests dozens of witnesses or raises procedural objections, the trial could face delays.
All right thank you for that coverage.
And do keep us posted.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=279593
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