February, Yoon and Lee Standing on the Blade of 'Judicial Time'

Impeachment Trial and Election Law Appeal Intensify
Yoon Faces Key Witnesses Who Led Impeachment and Criminal Trial
Lee Awaits Prosecution's Sentencing Request on the 26th and March Verdict

Starting this week, the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol and the Seoul High Court's election law appeal trial of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung will intensify. The sitting president and the leader of the main opposition party will simultaneously stand at the center of a 'judicial moment' that will determine their political fates.

◆Surrounded President Yoon faces impeachment trial and criminal trial simultaneously=President Yoon Suk-yeol finds himself in a position where he must face both the impeachment trial and a criminal trial at the same time. This follows the prosecution's indictment of President Yoon on charges of leading a rebellion at the Seoul Central District Court during the Lunar New Year holiday. First, the impeachment trial has already scheduled four hearing dates (5th to 8th sessions) twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the 13th. However, President Yoon is likely to encounter a very different atmosphere from the previous hearings held before the holiday. At the 4th hearing just before the holiday, President Yoon personally cross-examined former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who testified, effectively defending himself.

However, at the 5th hearing on the afternoon of the 4th, former Defense Commanders Lee Jin-woo and Yeo In-hyung, along with former National Intelligence Service (NIS) First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, will appear as witnesses. Among them, the testimony of former NIS Deputy Director Hong Jang-won is particularly noteworthy. Hong is regarded as the person who created the decisive turning point for President Yoon's impeachment by revealing that he received instructions from President Yoon to "clean everything up this time." As in the prosecution investigation and the National Assembly's state audit, Hong is expected to give testimony highly unfavorable to President Yoon in the impeachment trial. From the 6th hearing on the 6th, the impeachment trial proceedings will effectively run all day from 10 a.m. until late afternoon. Witnesses at the 6th hearing include former Special Forces Commander Kwak Jong-geun, Kim Hyun-tae, commander of the Special Forces 707 Special Mission Unit, and Park Chun-seop, the presidential office's economic chief. The 7th hearing will feature the cross-examination of former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min. The Constitutional Court is also likely to announce the impeachment trial schedule beyond the 13th soon. Considering the number of witnesses requested so far, it is widely expected that the schedule will extend at least until the end of February.

President Yoon's criminal trial will be handled by the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court. For the next month or two, pretrial preparation hearings will be held to discuss the issues, witnesses, and schedule of the trial, so it is unlikely that President Yoon will appear in criminal court immediately. Pretrial preparation hearings can proceed with only the defense attorneys present, without the defendant. However, if the impeachment trial drags on, President Yoon may have to appear before both the Constitutional Court and the criminal court simultaneously.

◆Lee Jae-myung's election law appeal trial: prosecution's sentencing request at end of February, verdict by end of March?=The appeal trial for Lee Jae-myung's election law violation case has already set the date for the closing trial, where the prosecution's sentencing request and the defendant's final statement will be made, on February 26. The Seoul High Court's 6-2 Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Choi Eun-jung) will hold hearings every Wednesday starting from the 5th. The court believes that most of the facts were established in the first trial, so in the upcoming hearings, only some of the witnesses requested by both sides will be accepted for examination. If the trial proceeds as scheduled, the appeal verdict will be delivered by the end of March. This is about a month past the second trial's statutory deadline of February 15. If Lee fails to overturn the first trial's sentence of one year imprisonment with two years probation, the aftermath is expected to be significant.

◆'Ma Eun-hyuk variable' and 'ideological controversy' add to disputes surrounding the Constitutional Court=Alongside the witness examination battles in President Yoon's impeachment trial, controversies surrounding the Constitutional Court are also growing. On the afternoon of the 3rd, the Constitutional Court will issue a ruling regarding the vacant ninth justice seat. The issue is whether Acting President Choi Sang-mok was correct in not appointing Ma Eun-hyuk as a justice candidate. The National Assembly Speaker insists the appointment should be made, while President Yoon's side argues that the constitutional dispute petition filed by the Speaker without going through the proper parliamentary procedures should be dismissed. The ruling party continues to criticize the so-called ideological bias of justices with progressive leanings from the Uri Law Research Association. All of these are factors that amplify conflicts. The Constitutional Court, aiming to deliver a verdict before the retirement of Justices Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mi-seon on April 18, faces an increasing number of challenges to resolve.