Impeachment Trial Struggles with Delivery Issues as Only Yoon Refuses Receipt Accepted by Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye

From the First Step of Impeachment Delivery
Yoon Refuses to Accept, Increasing Constitutional Court's Concern

Yonhap News

President Yoon Suk-yeol has been repeatedly refusing to accept documents from the Constitutional Court and has not submitted a power of attorney, causing growing concerns within the Constitutional Court.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, President Yoon did not receive the impeachment trial notification, summons, and preparation orders sent sequentially by mail and in person from the Constitutional Court between the 16th and 20th. When sent by mail to the presidential residence, the security office refuses to accept them, and when sent to the presidential office, they are returned on the grounds that the recipient (President Yoon) is not available.

This contrasts with previous presidential impeachment cases. The Constitutional Court handled the impeachment trials of former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and former President Park Geun-hye in 2016, but did not face such difficulties in delivery as it does this time.

Former President Roh was impeached on March 12, 2004, and it is known that the documents were delivered the next day. Five days after the approval, on March 17, his legal team submitted a power of attorney and a statement of opinion. Former President Park was impeached on December 9, 2016, and the Constitutional Court completed delivery within about an hour through the Blue House Presidential Secretariat by hand. Seven days later, on the 16th, a power of attorney and response were submitted.

As difficulties arise from the first stage of the impeachment trial?delivery?there is a sense of embarrassment within the Constitutional Court. If delivery continues to fail or if President Yoon appoints a representative late and then claims "not ready," there is a possibility that the preparatory hearing scheduled for the 27th could be postponed.

President Yoon’s response is not necessarily essential for the impeachment trial. If he continues to refuse receipt, methods such as public delivery or dispatch delivery can be considered as deemed delivery. However, since procedural flaws or fairness issues may be raised later, it appears that the Constitutional Court is trying to handle the related procedures as cautiously as possible.