Constitutional Court Evaluates Alternatives as Impeachment Papers for Yoon Go Undelivered

Seoul, Dec 20 (NationPress) The Constitutional Court is evaluating its alternatives as a batch of documents that would start the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk Yeol has yet to reach him after five days, a spokesperson for the court disclosed on Friday.

The court has attempted multiple delivery methods, including the postal service, in-person delivery, and an electronic system, to ensure that the impeachment trial notification and other related documents could be delivered to Yoon. Unfortunately, these efforts have failed primarily due to insufficient cooperation from the presidential office.

Two justices involved in the trial preparations presented the current situation at a plenary meeting of justices on Thursday, as stated by court spokesperson Lee Jin.

"The full bench exchanged their views on the matter," she informed during a press briefing. "The specifics of their discussions remain undisclosed for confidentiality reasons," reported Yonhap news agency.

Among the options being considered are recognizing the mail as delivered on the date it was sent, leaving the papers at the presidential office or residence, or posting the documents on a notice board and deeming them effective after a period of two weeks.

The court plans to assess these options and announce its decisions as early as next Monday.

On Thursday, a lawyer representing the impeached South Korean President again refuted the insurrection charges against him, asserting that anyone intending to incite an insurrection would not have acted as Yoon did, declaring martial law publicly.

Seok Dong-hyeon, who is involved in assembling Yoon's legal defense team, made this statement as the President is under investigation regarding insurrection charges linked to his brief martial law decree issued on December 3 and has been suspended from his duties while awaiting a Constitutional Court trial following impeachment by the National Assembly.

"From President Yoon's viewpoint, he has not even contemplated insurrection," Seok told reporters at his law office in Seoul. "What sort of insurrection includes someone announcing during a press conference before the public and the entire world, 'I am going to stage an insurrection?' and which insurrection is rescinded after just two or three hours because the National Assembly intervened?"

Seok was referring to the televised announcement Yoon made on the evening of December 3 to declare martial law, which he subsequently revoked hours later after the National Assembly voted against it.

"The President instructed the military and police not to confront citizens," the lawyer stated. "As a jurist, why would he discuss arrests? If arrests were made, where would they be taken? I hope the public and media consider such common sense."

Seok's comments stand in contrast to testimonies from several senior military officials who indicated that Yoon ordered troops to remove lawmakers from within the National Assembly building to prevent a vote against the decree and also commanded the arrest of notable politicians while martial law was in effect.

The lawyer expressed his belief that Yoon did not declare martial law out of personal grievances stemming from challenges in governance or humiliation but rather based on the assessment that the nation was genuinely in a state of emergency.

Seok has known Yoon for over 40 years, as both were students at Seoul National University School of Law.