By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to make a closing statement on Tuesday in a Constitutional Court trial reviewing his impeachment, as public hearings wrap up and his political fate is placed in the hands of eight judges.
Yoon faces being removed from office less than three years into his five-year presidency if the court upholds parliament’s impeachment, which accused him of declaring martial law on December 3 with no justifiable constitutional grounds.
The president has said in his trial he had a right to declare martial law but never meant to impose full military rule, instead arguing he intended to sound a warning over the opposition Democratic Party’s abuse of its parliamentary majority.
Yoon and the chairman of parliament’s judiciary committee, Jung Chung-rae, will give their final statements on Tuesday at a hearing that is due to start at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT). The justices are expected to take days to rule on whether to remove him from office or reinstate him.
Yoon has said during the trial that martial law, which lasted just six hours before he rescinded the decree, was not a failure but simply ended sooner than he intended.
He also said there was no point in debating accusations that he ordered military commanders to break into parliament to remove lawmakers gathering to lift the martial law decree because “nothing actually happened” and nobody was harmed.
Yoon’s arguments drew a rebuke from parliament that the president is incapable of judging what constitutes a national emergency that requires such an extreme act and that he might attempt to impose martial law again if he is reinstated.
His shock martial law announcement, which imposed a ban on political and parliamentary activity, triggered a constitutional crisis that also led to the impeachment of the prime minister who was acting president. The finance minister currently leads the country.
Yoon is being held in the Seoul Detention Centre after he was arrested over a separate criminal case, charging him with leading an insurrection. The former prosecutor is the first sitting president to face a criminal trial.
The Constitutional Court has not said when it will deliver its ruling on Yoon but has up to six months from December 14, when it registered the case after parliament’s impeachment vote.
Former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office in 2017 by the Constitutional Court 11 days after the final arguments in her impeachment trial.
If Yoon is removed, a new presidential election must be held within 60 days.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Gerry Doyle)
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