Police Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho Selected as Witness by Both Sides
Yoon's Request to Change Hearing Date Due to Criminal Trial Remains Uncertain
The 9th and 10th hearings of President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial will be held on the 18th and 20th, respectively, at the Constitutional Court's grand bench. Notably, on the 20th, President Yoon will face Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as a witness in the impeachment trial and will also confront former National Intelligence Service First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won again. On the same morning, President Yoon's first criminal trial and the hearing for the cancellation of his detention will also take place.
According to the Constitutional Court on the 16th, Prime Minister Han will appear at the 10th hearing to testify about the background and necessity of the emergency martial law declaration on December 3. President Yoon's side is expected to question Prime Minister Han about the political situation that made the declaration unavoidable and the purpose of the declaration.
However, Prime Minister Han appeared as a witness on the 15th of last month before the National Assembly's Special Committee on the Investigation of the Insurrection Charges through the Emergency Martial Law Declaration by the Yoon Suk-yeol Government. Regarding procedures such as the Cabinet meeting on the day of the emergency martial law, he stated, "Considering various procedural and substantive flaws, it was not normal," and added, "I think it was wrong."
There is interest in whether Prime Minister Han's testimony will contradict that of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, who previously testified as witnesses and gave favorable testimony to President Yoon.
Former Deputy Director Hong will appear for the second time at the Constitutional Court hearing. Since he engaged in a dispute with President Yoon's side over the so-called "arrest list note," the credibility of President Yoon's phone conversations and the note is expected to be a key issue again. President Yoon's side re-applied for Hong to testify, pointing out that his previous testimony?that he heard and wrote down the list of arrest targets from former Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung?differs from Yeo's testimony, and the Constitutional Court accepted this.
Police Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho will testify as the final witness. Commissioner Cho was previously selected as a witness at the request of the National Assembly but was absent twice due to battling blood cancer. This time, he was selected as a witness upon requests from both the National Assembly and President Yoon's side.
Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae of the Constitutional Court and the justices took their seats on the 13th at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, for the "8th hearing of the impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol." 2025.2.13 Photo by Joint Press Corps
The Constitutional Court has notified the 10th hearing on the 20th with these details, but President Yoon's side has submitted a request to change the date, citing difficulty in conducting impeachment trial witness questioning concurrently with the criminal trial on the same day, making the court's decision pending and a variable factor. The Constitutional Court explained, "No decision has been made regarding the change of the hearing date," and that the timing of the decision notification has not been determined.
On the same day as the impeachment trial, the criminal trial will be held at the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 25 (Presiding Judge Ji Gui-yeon) at 10 a.m., where the first preparatory hearing for President Yoon's trial on charges of leading an insurrection will take place. The preparatory hearing is a procedure to organize the issues and evidence before the main trial, and the defendant is not obligated to attend. The court will also examine whether to cancel President Yoon's detention, as requested by him.
Meanwhile, at the 9th impeachment trial hearing on the 18th, the Constitutional Court plans to examine written evidence and listen to both sides' positions on the grounds for impeachment for two hours each. Other trial procedures will follow consecutively. On the 17th, the Constitutional Court will hold the first hearing for prosecutors Lee Chang-soo, Cho Sang-won, and Choi Jae-hoon’s impeachment trial; on the 19th, the first hearing for Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's impeachment trial will be held, along with a public hearing on the dispute over the quorum for the impeachment resolution of Prime Minister Han raised by the People Power Party members against National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik.
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