Presidential Office Responds to Kwon Seongdong's Statement on Accepting Constitutional Court Ruling

Yongsan: Related Position to Be Discussed
at Senior Secretaries' Meeting

President Yoon Seokyeol, released from Seoul Detention Center, arrived in front of the Hannam-dong residence in Seoul on the 8th and is heading toward supporters after getting out of the vehicle. To the right of President Yoon is Chief Secretary Jeong Jinseok of the Presidential Office. Photo by Yonhap News.

On March 16, the Office of the President stated that regarding the remarks made by Kwon Seongdong, floor leader of the People Power Party, who said, "The official position of the party is to accept the Constitutional Court's decision," a meeting of senior secretaries presided over by Chief of Staff Jeong Jinseok would be held this afternoon to discuss the related position.

A senior official from the Office of the President responded in this way when asked whether the party's position to accept the Constitutional Court's decision had been coordinated in advance with the presidential office.

Floor Leader Kwon made these comments at a press conference held at the National Assembly earlier that day regarding the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of President Yoon Seokyoul, stating, "Our party's official position is to accept the Constitutional Court's decision."

At the same event, when asked whether accepting the impeachment trial's conclusion was indeed the party's official position, Floor Leader Kwon answered, "As you all know, a constitutional trial is a single-instance proceeding. Once a verdict is delivered, the result is binding on everyone."

He continued, responding to a question about whether President Yoon Seokyoul should also issue a message accepting the outcome, saying, "To my knowledge, President Yoon expressed such an intention during the final arguments last time."

The Office of the President is scheduled to hold a senior secretaries' meeting presided over by the Chief of Staff this afternoon to discuss various pending issues. Given that Floor Leader Kwon has announced the party's official position to accept the Constitutional Court's decision, there is increasing attention on whether the Office of the President will also express a related stance.

Meanwhile, according to legal circles, there is speculation that the Constitutional Court's ruling on President Yoon's impeachment trial may be delivered in the latter half of this week. The case involving President Yoon has already set a record for the longest duration from impeachment motion to verdict among all presidential impeachment trials, surpassing those of former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye.