Constitutional Court Rejects Han Deok-su and Lee Kyung-min as Witnesses for Yoon's Side, Citing "Lack of Necessity"

The Constitutional Court dismissed the witness requests for Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Lieutenant General Lee Kyung-min, Chief of Staff and Acting Commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command. Both individuals were witnesses requested by President Yoon Suk-yeol's side.

On the 11th, Moon Hyung-bae, Acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, is entering the 7th hearing session of President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

On the 11th, Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae stated during the 7th impeachment trial hearing of President Yoon, "After deliberation, the court found the witness requests for Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Acting Commander Lee Kyung-min to lack necessity and therefore dismissed them."

Additionally, the court rejected President Yoon's side's request to verify whether the number of early voters and same-day voters matched the voter list in the Yeonsu-eul electoral district of Incheon.

Previously, on the 31st of last month, the Constitutional Court had dismissed a similar request from President Yoon's side, and regarding the objection filed by President Yoon's side, Acting Chief Justice Moon said, "After unanimous deliberation, the court found no legal violations in the dismissal decision and therefore did not accept the objection."

Furthermore, regarding additional witnesses requested by President Yoon's side, including Kang Ui-gu, First Deputy Chief of the Presidential Secretariat, Shin Yong-hae, Director of the Ministry of Justice Correctional Headquarters, and Park Kyung-sun, former Director of Seoul Eastern Detention Center, the court stated, "We will decide on their acceptance after deliberation."

Meanwhile, the scheduled witness examination of Cho Sung-hyun, Commander of the 1st Security Group of the Capital Defense Command, originally set for the 8th hearing on the 13th, the last hearing date announced by the Constitutional Court, was moved up after Police Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho submitted a letter of absence due to health reasons.