Yoon Ultimately Absent from Constitutional Court Impeachment Trial... National Assembly Prosecution Team Urges "Face the Trial Confidently"

President Yoon Suk-yeol did not attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial. The National Assembly's impeachment prosecution team urged President Yoon to comply with the legal procedures.

The first formal hearing of President Yoon's impeachment trial was held at 2 p.m. on the 14th at the Constitutional Court's grand chamber, but it ended early after about four minutes due to President Yoon's absence. Lee Chun-seok, a member of the prosecution team and a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, told reporters after the hearing, "Responding confidently to the Constitutional Court trial and cooperating with the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI) investigation is the last duty given to the president." He added, "I was also in charge of the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye here eight years ago," and said, "I feel troubled that such a situation has arisen again."

Jeong Cheong-rae, head of the National Assembly's impeachment prosecution team, is attending the 'Yoon Seok-yeol President Impeachment Trial Hearing' held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 14th, and is making a statement to the press. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

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Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye criticized, "The decisive reason for the adoption of the impeachment motion against former President Park was the important perspective of the risk of recidivism," and said, "President Yoon did not respond to the HOCI's three summons requests." The HOCI plans to execute a second arrest warrant against President Yoon, who has refused to comply with the third summons request. During the execution of the first arrest warrant, the actual arrest did not take place due to opposition from the Presidential Security Service and others.

Park said, "There is even a risk of causing a violent incident centered around the presidential residence," and requested, "I respectfully ask the honorable Constitutional Court justices to promptly and strictly make a decision to dismiss President Yoon." Park serves as the opposition party whip on the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ki-pyo also stated on the same day, "Where is President Yoon, who said he would not avoid legal and political responsibility?" and argued, "The scene of him not attending the impeachment prosecution procedure against himself sufficiently reveals President Yoon's anti-constitutional behavior." He added, "Not attending the trial does not allow one to escape the judgment of history," and emphasized, "I hope he complies with the execution of the HOCI arrest warrant and the impeachment trial procedures even now."

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