Eight Justices Unanimously Call for Former President Yoon's Dismissal
Agree That Unconstitutional and Illegal Acts Were Grave Enough to Warrant Removal
Former President Yoon Seok-yeol was dismissed in the final ruling of the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial at 11:22 a.m. on the 4th, and as Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae exited, he was seen gently patting the back of Justice Kim Hyung-doo beside him, drawing attention.
At 11 a.m. that day, Acting Chief Justice Moon began reading the decision. Most of the other seven justices maintained a neutral expression, with only Justices Jo Han-chang and Kim Hyung-doo occasionally glancing at the audience.
After the 22-minute reading concluded and the justices exited, Acting Chief Justice Moon gently patted Justice Kim’s back and tapped his shoulder. He also brushed down his back. It is unclear whether this was a gesture of appreciation for his hard work or encouragement for the person who will take over as Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court after Moon’s retirement.
On this day, the Grand Bench held the sentencing session and unanimously accepted the National Assembly’s impeachment motion against former President Yoon. Since the conclusion of the trial on February 25, deliberations had continued for over a month, leading some to speculate that the Constitutional Court was deadlocked due to sharply divided opinions among the justices.
However, all eight justices ultimately agreed in unison to the order "to dismiss President Yoon Seok-yeol." They concurred that the December 3 emergency martial law violated the procedural requirements for declaring emergency martial law as stipulated by the Constitution and the Martial Law Act, and that there were substantial unconstitutional and illegal aspects in the deployment of military and police forces by the National Assembly, the unconstitutional proclamation, and the attempted search and seizure of the National Election Commission.
In particular, all justices agreed that President Yoon’s unconstitutional and illegal actions were grave enough to warrant dismissal from office.
Based on the precedents of former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye, the Constitutional Court’s impeachment ruling was expected within about two weeks after entering deliberations. However, as the justices’ deliberations extended, the final decision on President Yoon’s impeachment trial was made on this day, 111 days after the case was received on December 14 last year. This set the record for the longest trial period among all presidential impeachment trials in history.
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