South Korea: Legal Team of Yoon Requests Exclusion of Constitutional Court Justice Over Concerns of Impartiality
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Seoul, Jan 13 (NationPress) The legal counsel for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has formally requested the Constitutional Court to disqualify one of its eight justices during the proceedings related to Yoon's unsuccessful martial law declaration last month.
Yoon's legal team asserts that Constitutional Court Justice Jeong Gye-seon possesses progressive biases that may hinder the court's ability to deliver an impartial ruling.
The court is entitled to dismiss this request if it appears to be intended to postpone the trials.
Recently, the Opposition-led National Assembly approved the nominations of three Constitutional Court judges: Jeong and Ma Eun-hyuk, both put forward by the main opposition Democratic Party, along with Cho Han-chang, who was suggested by the ruling People Power Party.
Acting President and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok sanctioned the appointments of both Jeong and Cho.
Additionally, Yoon's legal team has lodged an objection against the court's decision to schedule Yoon's initial plea date for January 14, contending that the trials concerning impeached acting President Han Duck-soo should be prioritized, as reported by the Yonhap news agency.
The previous acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo faced impeachment after he declined to appoint justices to the Constitutional Court.
Yoon declared martial law on December 3, citing the need to eliminate anti-state elements, though the declaration lasted merely six hours before lawmakers voted to rescind it in the National Assembly. Subsequently, the Assembly impeached Yoon on December 14, accusing him of insurrection.
On January 12, President Yoon Suk Yeol did not attend the initial formal hearing in his impeachment trial due to safety concerns.
His defense attorney, Yun Gap-geun, announced this absence as the Constitutional Court conducted its first oral arguments in Yoon's impeachment trial, while investigators pursued a detention order for the impeached president concerning a separate inquiry related to his brief martial law enforcement.
