Minister of Justice: "Abuse of Parliamentary Impeachment Powers, One of the Major Causes of Yoon's Martial Law Declaration"

Park Seong-jae Asserts at Constitutional Court Hearing:
"Lack of Legal Basis for My Impeachment Prosecution"

Yonhap News

On the 24th, Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice, appeared at the Constitutional Court impeachment trial and stated, "I believe that the National Assembly's abuse of the prosecution right was one of the major causes for President Yoon Seok-yeol to declare martial law." Park was impeached for reasons including his attendance at the Cabinet meeting before the declaration of martial law and involvement in the decision-making process.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Constitutional Court held the first preparatory hearing for Park's impeachment trial at 2 p.m. in the small courtroom of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Upon arriving at the court, Park told reporters, "I believe that the impeachment prosecution against me lacks legal and evidential grounds," adding, "Despite this, the National Assembly pushed forward the impeachment prosecution procedure against me solely with the power of the majority, which I consider an abuse of the National Assembly's impeachment prosecution right."

He continued, "I hope the impeachment prosecution procedure against me will be promptly decided through dismissal or other rulings," and pointed out, "It is becoming clear that the impeachment prosecution procedures against not only me but several others lack justification." He emphasized, "Today, I intend to diligently explain the unfairness of my impeachment prosecution."

On the other hand, the petitioner side, the National Assembly, headed straight to the small courtroom of the Constitutional Court without any particular statement. Previously, on December 12 last year, the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against Park on the grounds that he effectively participated in a conspiracy of rebellion by attending the Cabinet meeting deliberating martial law presided over by President Yoon, resulting in his suspension from duty. On this day, the Constitutional Court will organize the issues of the case and arrange the schedule for future hearings.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.