On February 20th, South Korea's Constitutional Court announced that it would conclude the court debate on the impeachment case against President Yoon Suk - Yeol on the 25th. In the afternoon of February 25th, the Constitutional Court will hear the final arguments from both the prosecution and the defense, as well as the final statements from the parties involved.
According to general practice, it usually takes about two weeks from the end of the debate to the final verdict. Therefore, it is predicted that the Constitutional Court will hand down a verdict on Yoon Suk - Yeol's impeachment case around March 11th.
From January 14th until this Thursday, the Constitutional Court held 10 rounds of court debates on Yoon Suk - Yeol's impeachment case. Key witnesses such as Kim Yong - hyun, Yoon Suk - Yeol's middle - school senior and former South Korean Defense Minister, Han Deok - soo, the suspended South Korean Prime Minister, and Hong Jang - won, the former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, testified in court. Yoon Suk - Yeol attended most of the court debates.
Yoon Suk - Yeol and his lawyers firmly deny that Yoon Suk - Yeol ordered the blockade of the National Assembly, the arrest of political figures, and the prevention of the National Assembly from voting to lift the martial law during the emergency martial law order on December 3rd last year. They claim that Yoon Suk - Yeol's implementation of martial law was legitimate. The National Assembly, as the prosecution, accuses Yoon Suk - Yeol of failing to fulfill the procedure of convening a State Council meeting before declaring martial law, not meeting the conditions required by the constitution for implementing martial law when declaring the emergency martial law order, and ordering the martial - law troops and the police to arrest members of the National Assembly.
On Thursday, Han Deok - soo attended the court debate. Han Deok - soo revealed that Yoon Suk - Yeol once asked him to attend the 'Trade Day' memorial event hosted by the Korea International Trade Association on behalf of him. This event was two days after Yoon Suk - Yeol declared martial law, which also raised doubts about whether the martial law would last more than two days. Previously, Yoon Suk - Yeol said during the debate that the martial law was for warning purposes and was planned to end within half a day.
Han Deok - soo denied that he had heard Yoon Suk - Yeol say that 'the martial law would be lifted within half a day'. He pointed out that when Yoon Suk - Yeol was about to declare martial law, all state councilors expressed concerns and tried to dissuade him. Han Deok - soo believes that it should be up to the judicial authorities to judge whether the State Council meeting before the martial law complied with the procedures, but he admitted that there were flaws in the meeting.
Hong Jang - won, the former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, also said during the court hearing earlier this month that he had received an order from Yoon Suk - Yeol to arrest political figures. Hong Jang - won revealed that since he didn't know who to arrest specifically, he called the former anti - espionage commander, Ryu In - hyung, about it.
The National Assembly released the call records of Hong Jang - won, Ryu In - hyung, and Yoon Suk - Yeol during the court hearing on that day. The records show that Yoon Suk - Yeol called Hong Jang - won around 8 p.m. on the day of the martial law, but Hong Jang - won didn't answer. Then around 10:53 p.m., Yoon Suk - Yeol called Hong Jang - won again and instructed him to 'arrest them all'. Yoon Suk - Yeol's lawyer claimed that Yoon Suk - Yeol meant to arrest all spies, and the witness misinterpreted the instruction.
Kim Hyun - tae, the commander of the 707th Special Mission Group under the Army Special Warfare Command, who entered the National Assembly on the day of the martial law, revealed during his testimony that he had received an order to 'blockade the National Assembly'. According to Kim Hyun - tae, the former commander of the Special Warfare Command, Kwak Jong - gon, once called him to ask 'whether stun guns and blank bullets could be used', which he refused. However, he said that it was his own decision to break into the National Assembly through the window. After the National Assembly voted to lift the martial law, he withdrew the troops according to Kwak Jong - gon's order. Data previously released by the South Korean Ministry of National Defense showed that when Yoon Suk - Yeol issued the emergency martial law order, more than 1,500 troops, 107 military vehicles, and over 10,000 live ammunition were deployed by the martial - law troops.
Kim Yong - hyun, the former South Korean Defense Minister, denied all the accusations against Yoon Suk - Yeol from the National Assembly during his testimony and took some of the blame on himself.
If the Constitutional Court finds the impeachment case against Yoon Suk - Yeol valid, Yoon Suk - Yeol will be removed from the presidency, and South Korea will hold a general election within 60 days. If the Constitutional Court finds the impeachment case invalid, Yoon Suk - Yeol will regain his presidential powers.
In addition to the hearing by the Constitutional Court, the South Korean prosecution has also filed a criminal lawsuit against Yoon Suk - Yeol on suspicion of inciting an insurrection, and Yoon Suk - Yeol has been identified as the 'ringleader of the insurrection'. On Thursday, the Seoul Central District Court initiated the trial procedure for Yoon Suk - Yeol's insurrection case, and Yoon Suk - Yeol attended the pre - trial meeting.
The 'ringleader of the insurrection' can be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty at most, but no former South Korean president has ever been executed for the crime of insurrection in South Korea's history. Chun Doo - hwan, the former South Korean president who launched the 'December 12th Coup', was once sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life imprisonment and finally he was pardoned.