Deletion of 'Criminal Act Treason' from Impeachment Bill
Yoon: "Illegal Due to Lack of National Assembly Re-vote"
Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, argued on the 25th, the day of the final oral arguments for President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial, that the Constitutional Court should decide to dismiss the impeachment rather than accept or reject it. Yoon claimed that the parliamentary impeachment prosecution team illegally changed the grounds for impeachment from 'treason under the Criminal Act' to 'acts of rebellion' without a re-vote in the National Assembly.
At a press conference held at the National Assembly that day, Yoon said, "I believe the impeachment should be dismissed, not accepted or rejected," and criticized, "From the deletion of the treason part of the impeachment bill, illegality has been continuously compounded."
He continued, "The most important part of the impeachment bill was deleted. Then, the Constitutional Court should naturally either send the impeachment bill back to the National Assembly or dismiss it so that the National Assembly can go through the re-vote procedure, but no vote took place," predicting that the impeachment would not be accepted.
Regarding President Yoon's final defense message, he anticipated, "There might be a sincere apology from him about this situation. As president, he will likely deliver a unifying message on future national tasks."
On the same day, Yoon held a one-person protest at the Seoul Central District Court in the morning, urging the cancellation of President Yoon's detention, and in the afternoon, he visited the Constitutional Court to attend the final oral arguments of the impeachment trial.
About ten People Power Party lawmakers, including Yoon, Kwon Seong-dong, the party floor leader, Kim Ki-hyun, Na Kyung-won, Choo Kyung-ho, Lee In-seon, and Jeong Jeom-sik, attended the final oral arguments. Kim told reporters gathered in front of the Constitutional Court, "Above all, I urge the Constitutional Court to make a fair judgment so that the public's concerns about the repeated disruptions and illegal trial proceedings can be resolved," calling for dismissal.
Na also said, "I feel sorry for the public's many concerns about the impeachment trial," and predicted, "There will be much consideration about whether the martial law violated the Constitution and whether it is serious enough to remove the president."
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