IMPEACHED president Yoon Suk-yeol (pic) is willing to present his views himself during legal proceedings related to his short-lived declaration of martial law, a lawyer advising Yoon said.
Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer and long-time friend of Yoon, also told reporters yesterday that multiple – seemingly overlapping – investigations involving Yoon should be streamlined.
Yoon, an ex-prosecutor, shocked the nation on Dec 3 when he declared martial law in a late-night televised address, before backing down hours later after outraged lawmakers rejected it.
“He (Yoon) has already apologised for surprising and shocking the public, and he remains apologetic for that... but he has a clear and confident position on the issues that are in dispute and must be addressed,” Seok told a briefing, adding Yoon had never even considered insurrection.
Yoon was impeached by parliament in a vote last Saturday over his imposition of martial law, and faces a Constitutional Court trial on whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential powers.
Yoon also faces investigations into whether the martial law declaration constituted insurrection, one of the few charges for which a South Korean president does not have immunity from.
“What kind of insurrection follows parliament’s order to stop... and quits after two to three hours?” said Seok, who was wearing a souvenir watch from Yoon’s presidential office.
Asked whether the martial law decree breached the constitution, Seok said Yoon viewed the situation of an overbearing opposition party controlling parliament, cutting the government budget and impeaching government officials as an “emergency state” and the basis to invoke martial order.
National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik questioned such justification and called it contradictory to public sentiment against the martial law imposition.
“I think it was president Yoon’s misjudgement,” Woo told foreign correspondents yesterday, accusing Yoon of doing little to communicate with parliament and not attending the opening of the new assembly nor addressing the parliament on budget unlike predecessors.
Yoon, who has not commented publicly since shortly after his impeachment, was currently staying at his residence with his duties suspended due to parliament’s impeachment, Seok said.
While Yoon had apologised for rattling the nation with his martial law declaration, Seok also called for public understanding over the president’s “pain” dealing with the opposition’s excessive power.
Yoon is still forming legal teams to respond to criminal investigations into the martial law case and the upcoming impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court, Seok said.
The presidential office’s security service said Wednesday it would not comply with raids by investigative agencies, according to Yonhap, and the Constitutional Court said yesterday the trial documents it tried to send to Yoon had yet to reach him. — Reuters
