Controversy continues over the National Assembly's decision to withdraw the charge of treason in the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol ahead of the formal oral arguments. The Constitutional Court emphasized its principled stance that it has not been involved in this process in any way and will judge solely according to conscience. Meanwhile, President Yoon's legal team strongly opposed the withdrawal of the treason charge, arguing that it constitutes grounds for dismissal.
On the 7th, Cheon Jae-hyun, the Constitutional Court's spokesperson, met with reporters and addressed the fairness controversy raised by political circles regarding the withdrawal of the treason charge, stating, "The Constitutional Court judges according to the Constitution, laws, and conscience," and emphasized, "We will look only to the people, regardless of party affiliation." He added, "The Constitutional Court is a judicial body established to resolve constitutional disputes and uphold constitutional order according to the will of the sovereign people. Creating new constitutional disputes based on decisions made by the Constitutional Court to resolve constitutional disputes is not the will of the sovereign who established the Constitutional Court."
Earlier, some political circles claimed that the Constitutional Court had encouraged the National Assembly to withdraw the treason charge, but the Court dismissed this the day before, stating, "There is no such fact."
President Yoon's side is intensifying its offensive regarding the change in the impeachment charges. Yoon Gap-geun, the attorney representing President Yoon, stated in a press release that day, "Withdrawing the treason charge from the impeachment charges is a significant change and grounds for dismissal," and argued, "It is not simply the withdrawal of one of two charges, but the withdrawal of content corresponding to 80% of the impeachment petition."
When asked about the Constitutional Court's position on this claim, spokesperson Cheon replied, "The issue regarding the treason charge in the impeachment petition is for the bench to decide."
Meanwhile, ahead of the first oral argument session for President Yoon's impeachment trial scheduled for the 16th, the Constitutional Court announced that it had requested the submission of investigation records related to the December 3 martial law incident from three bodies: the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team, the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters, and the Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law under the prosecution. This was adopted during the previous preparatory hearing process. Additionally, President Yoon's side submitted an additional written opinion the day before, but the specific contents have not been disclosed.
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