"10th Hearing, Testimony More Unfavorable to the President's Side"
No Hee-beom, a lawyer and former constitutional researcher at the Constitutional Court, predicted that the ruling on President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial would be announced by mid-March at the latest, stating, "The Constitutional Court will decide on dismissal with a unanimous opinion."
On the 21st, appearing on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Lawyer Noh said, "Looking at previous (impeachment trial) cases, the ruling was delivered within two weeks."
Regarding his expectation of a unanimous dismissal decision, he explained, "The Constitutional Court is an institution that must protect, uphold, and maintain the Constitution," adding, "I don't think there will be any justices who believe that the president's actions this time do not violate the Constitution or that the president should be allowed to continue performing his duties."
President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at his 10th impeachment trial hearing held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 20th. Photo by Yonhap News
He cited as a key point from the 10th impeachment trial hearing held the day before that "Former National Intelligence Service 1st Deputy Director Hong Jang-won testified consistently, as in previous testimony, that he received orders from Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung to arrest politicians," and added, "Although he was a witness requested by the president's side, I think his testimony was rather unfavorable."
Earlier, during the 6th hearing, controversy arose over whether the phrase 'drag out the member' that former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun claimed to have heard in a phone call with President Yoon referred to a 'member' (lawmaker) or an 'agent.' However, Lawyer Noh believed that the member-agent controversy was unlikely to affect the Constitutional Court's final judgment.
He explained, "I think that controversy will not be included in the Constitutional Court's decision document," adding, "That controversy is a matter of fact-finding, and justices confirm the final facts by comprehensively reviewing various testimonies and statements. They do not necessarily discuss every individual aspect that might be factually incorrect."
Meanwhile, President Yoon, who appeared at the hearing the day before, left the courtroom five minutes after the trial began but returned after Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's witness examination concluded. Regarding President Yoon's behavior at the time, Lawyer Noh said, "In both the Constitutional Court and general courts, it is court etiquette for the defendant or party to obtain the judge's permission before leaving or stepping out," adding, "He left unilaterally without the judge's consent or permission, which is highly unusual and a serious breach of court etiquette."
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