Yoon's Side Faces Possibility of Dismissal of 'Judge Recusal Request'

The Yoon Suk-yeol presidential camp suddenly filed a motion to disqualify a justice just one day before the first hearing of the impeachment trial. They also submitted three objections regarding the trial procedures. Amid criticism that they are trying to delay the trial, the Constitutional Court is holding a justices' meeting on the 14th before the first hearing to discuss this issue.

Seoul Jongno-gu Constitutional Court. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

The Constitutional Court held a justices' meeting from 10 a.m. that day to discuss the Yoon presidential camp's 'Justice Jung Gye-seon disqualification motion.' The first impeachment trial hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m., but the acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae convened an unscheduled meeting after the Yoon camp submitted a large number of documents late the previous afternoon.

Article 24, Paragraph 3 of the Constitutional Court Act states, "If there are circumstances that make it difficult to expect a fair trial from a justice, a party may file a motion to disqualify." The Yoon presidential legal team stated, "Justice Jung's spouse is the chairperson of Gonggam, a public interest human rights foundation, and the co-representative of the National Assembly's impeachment prosecution team is lawyer Kim Yi-su. Justice Jung was a member and former president of Uri-beop Research Association, known for its progressive stance within the judiciary." This can be seen as questioning Justice Jung's political inclination based on his background.

Additionally, the Yoon camp claimed, "Justice Jung revealed prejudgments during the National Assembly confirmation hearing." They argue that since Justice Jung had already hinted before his appointment that Yoon's declaration of emergency martial law could be grounds for impeachment, it is difficult to expect a fair trial.

There has never been a case where a motion to disqualify a justice was accepted by the Constitutional Court. During former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial, a motion to disqualify a justice was filed during the hearing but was dismissed within 15 minutes. Since not only Justice Jung but also Acting Chief Justice Moon are former presidents of the Uri-beop Research Association, and the political inclination of a justice is unlikely to be recognized as grounds for disqualification, this is the prevailing view.