South Korea’s constitutional court held the 11th and final hearing of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment trial on Tuesday, with Yoon being present for his final statement.
The hearing opened around 2:00 p.m. local time (0500 GMT), starting with the examination of evidences from legal representatives of the defendant Yoon and the National Assembly acting as the prosecution in the case.
Yoon, dressed in suit and red necktie as before, appeared at the courtroom at about 9:00 p.m. local time, saying in his final statement that he felt sorry to people for confusion and inconvenience caused by his martial law imposition, which he said was for the nation and people.
The impeached president claimed that his martial law imposition was an appeal to the nation in the form of martial law as the country had been in a state of emergency.
The martial law can only be imposed when the country faces “a state of war, serious incident or other comparable national emergency” that leads to engagement with an enemy or extreme disturbance of social order.
The opposition bloc said no sign of national emergency was detected at the time of Yoon’s martial law declaration.
Yoon stressed that lawmakers were not blocked from entering the National Assembly building to lift the martial law so that it lasted just for two and a half hours.
Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of Dec. 3 last year, but it was revoked by the opposition-led parliament hours later.
Throughout the midnight hours of the short-lived martial law imposition, military helicopters landed at the National Assembly and hundreds of soldiers from the armed special forces broke into the parliamentary building, TV footage showed.
Yoon repeatedly denied the orders, which he allegedly gave to arrest and drag out lawmakers from the parliamentary building during the short-lived martial law imposition.
It was in stark contrast to claims made by military commanders who said they had received such orders from Yoon, according to the prosecution’s indictment.
One of the National Assembly’s legal representatives said during the hearing that Yoon’s violation of the constitution and laws was clearly revealed through the examination of evidences and the relevant investigations.
The lawyer explained that Yoon proved himself to be incapable of and disqualified for a defender of the constitution and a commander-in-chief of the armed forces as he was immersed in an anachronistic perception of the emergency presidential power.
Referring to Yoon’s indictment, another lawyer of the parliament emphasized that Yoon could not avoid punishment even if his impeachment is to be rejected.
Yoon was apprehended in presidential office on Jan. 15 and was indicted under detention on Jan. 26 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection.
If convicted of the insurrection ringleader, Yoon could face death penalty or life imprisonment.
The motion to impeach Yoon was passed through the National Assembly on Dec. 14 last year and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate it for up to 180 days, during which his presidency is suspended.
The court was widely forecast to decide whether to oust Yoon from office or reinstate him within two weeks, given the precedents of former presidents.
