President Yoon, who said "I will not evade legal responsibility," refused to accept the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial documents three times

The Constitutional Court (Constitutional Court of Korea) sent documents including a notice of receipt to President Yoon Seok-yeol three times for the impeachment trial process, but all were returned due to "recipient absence."

Constitutional Court, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

Lee Jin, the Constitutional Court spokesperson, stated at a briefing on the 19th, "The notice of receipt, decision to refer to preparatory procedures, notice of preparatory procedure date, and summons, which were approved on the 16th, were delivered by mail for the second time the previous day, but were undelivered to the presidential residence due to 'Security Office refusal to accept,' and undelivered to the Presidential Office due to 'recipient absence.'” It was reported that the Constitutional Court also attempted to deliver these documents on the morning of the same day, but they were all returned with the presidential residence citing 'Security Office refusal to accept' and the Presidential Office citing 'recipient absence.' So far, the documents have been refused acceptance three times in total. The Constitutional Court repeatedly sent the documents by mail to the presidential residence.

The preparatory order requested by the Constitutional Court to President Yoon’s side on the 17th was also sent to the presidential residence and the Presidential Office on the morning of the same day but was not delivered for the same reasons. The spokesperson added that the Constitutional Court staff tried to visit the residence in person to hand over the notice of receipt and preparatory order documents but failed as they could not meet President Yoon.

The Constitutional Court is considering various methods to deliver the documents. If the party continues to refuse to receive the documents, there is also a 'deemed service' option, which proceeds with the trial process assuming the documents have been delivered. This means that if the intended recipient cannot be met, attempts are made to deliver the documents to office workers or employees, and if they also refuse to accept, the documents are left at the delivery location or considered delivered once sent. The Constitutional Court plans to announce its position on whether to apply deemed service in President Yoon-related cases on the 23rd.

Meanwhile, President Yoon said in a national address on the 7th, "I will not evade legal and political responsibility regarding the recent martial law declaration."