President Yoon: "Multiple agencies conducting disorganized investigations... Reports even conflict with each other"

President Yoon Suk-yeol appeared at the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial and criticized, "Various (investigative) agencies have rushed in and conducted investigations in a haphazard manner, and the records of hearings held in the National Assembly are also mixed together." He implied that the Constitutional Court should be cautious in admitting evidence because the testimonies of witnesses who appeared at the impeachment trial differ from those of the investigative agencies.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is attending the '7th Hearing on the Impeachment Trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol' held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Joint Press Corps

On the 11th, President Yoon attended the 7th hearing session of the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial and stated, "Whether it is the prosecution, military prosecution, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), or the police, it was not a single consistent agency conducting the investigation." He continued, "There are many contradictions even among the investigation records themselves, and although Hong Jang-won, former 1st Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, and other officials were questioned as witnesses, many people must have felt that the contents recorded in their statements and the actual testimonies heard were vastly different."

President Yoon also said, "I think the justices might think the same," adding, "Even if the justices make judgments on the admissibility of evidence, adopting evidence indiscriminately and reflecting it in fact-finding is problematic. The fundamental structure would be acceptable if a single agency had conducted a systematic investigation like the prosecution, but since they do not even align with each other, I kindly ask you to carefully consider this point." In response, Moon Hyung-bae, Acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, said, "We will discuss this during the deliberation."

The main issues in the 7th hearing of the impeachment trial are expected to be the procedures of the Cabinet meeting just before the declaration of martial law and the constitutionality and legality of the Central Election Commission's search and seizure. Former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, National Security Office Director Shin Won-sik, former 3rd Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Baek Jong-wook, and Secretary-General of the Election Commission Kim Yong-bin will appear as witnesses.