President Yoon Attends Impeachment Trial... "Confidence in Liberal Democracy"

[Anchor]
Let's connect the legal reporters at the Constitutional Court to summarize the situation in more detail. I'm connected to reporters Youngsoo Kim and Lee Kyung-guk, so please tell me the details.

[Reporter]
The Constitutional Court will follow up with the relevant news. As I explained earlier, the third hearing date of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial was concluded a little while ago. It started at 2 o'clock. It ended in an hour and 43 minutes. President Yoon Suk Yeol has been confirmed to have retired and is probably preparing to return to detention. The screen on the right now is the entrance to the underground parking lot where President Yoon Suk Yeol's vehicle entered. It is expected that the vehicle will come out from here. President Yoon arrived at the Constitutional Court at around 1:10 p.m. today in a convoy of the Ministry of Justice. He was not seen getting out of the car and entering the Constitutional Court. President Yoon later entered the Constitutional Court's grand judgment, which will be held at 1:58 a.m. At this time, President Yoon Suk Yeol's appearance in public was revealed for the first time in nearly 50 days. I wore a navy suit and a red tie at today's referee's court. It has been found that President

Yoon was in a detention center in a suit after his arrest. After being arrested, they will be changed to a suspect in custody, so they will live in a detention center wearing a detention suit with a detention number. When he comes to the Constitutional Court today, he seems to have changed his clothes. As you can see, my hair was a little tidy. The president of Yoon Suk Yeol made a number of remarks today, so shall we first hear what he said before the trial began in earnest?

[Reporter]
First of all, President Yoon sat next to the lawyer, the respondent's representative at the front of the respondent's seat, in the grand judgment. When asked by Judge Moon Hyung-bae whether the respondent himself was present, he stood up, bowed his head first, and then sat down. After that, Judge Moon gave President Yoon a chance to speak before the full-fledged hearing began. President Yoon spoke for a little over a minute. He said he apologized to the judges for causing them to suffer from the impeachment case, which is heavy on his work due to various constitutional lawsuits. He stressed that he has been living in public office since he grew up and has firmly brought his belief in liberal democracy. He went on to say that the Constitutional Court also exists to protect the Constitution, so I hope the judges will take a good look. I ended my brief remarks, saying I would tell you if it was a necessary situation or if I had any questions. Since then, President Yoon's remarks have continued during the hearing period. We'll keep you posted additionally.

[Reporter]
President Yoon Suk Yeol was present for the first time today at the third hearing. So I've had several opportunities to speak, but let's first look at the note that I reportedly gave to Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok and then Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. When martial law was declared, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok mentioned at the National Assembly that he had received a note from the president, and the prosecution investigation found that the note included budgeting for emergency legislative bodies and blocking subsidies and subsidies related to the National Assembly. So it was one of the important pieces of evidence because it could be a basis for trying to neutralize the National Assembly. The Constitutional Court asked about this. I asked President Yoon directly if he had ever given me this note, but he said he had never given it, and he replied that he saw such a note in the media after the martial law was lifted.

At the same time, he mentioned that the only person who can make this is Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, but he has not confirmed it in detail because he is in custody. Earlier, this note was also mentioned during the review of the last arrest warrant. It was treated as important, but President Yoon was still unclear about the note at the time. He once answered that he didn't know if he wrote it. In addition to this, didn't the National Assembly and the president also have a fight over fraudulent elections?

[Reporter]
That's right. There was a battle over allegations of fraudulent elections. In the process, there was even a direct statement from President Yoon. To summarize, President Yoon first explained the results of the 2023 NEC voting system security inspection announced by the National Intelligence Service and the photo of the ballot that was taken at the recount site of the 21st general election. First of all, President Yoon's side repeatedly claimed that there was a stiff ballot that could not be considered to have been folded and inserted after normal voting. The National Assembly immediately refuted the claim, saying it would have a detrimental effect on the people. He also strongly refuted the claim, saying that it is an act of crumpling the election factory into a trash can. He said that all allegations of fraudulent elections were judged as unfounded claims through the judgment of the Supreme Court and judicial authorities.

He then emphasized that he did not think it was an issue of the impeachment trial, and there was one election fraud. Handul emphasized that the reason for impeachment cannot be justified. The National Assembly then emphasized that it was the reason President Yoon brought up to justify his actions after the failure of martial law. Subsequently, President Yoon himself got the opportunity to speak and virtually refuted it again. Before declaring martial law, President Yoon himself said there were many points of doubt about trust in election fairness. President Yoon himself told the court that he did not believe that the entire election was fraudulent, but that it was intended to check how the NEC system works.

[Reporter]
President Yoon Suk Yeol's third hearing date ended in an hour and 43 minutes. The screen you see on the right is the entrance to the underground parking lot where President Yoon Suk Yeol's vehicle entered. On the left is the entrance where agents come in and out. The National Assembly's prosecutors and representatives have made a series of remarks, and the president seems to have not yet come out. There's one more thing the president said. The National Assembly asked President Yoon to set up a screen to prevent him from facing witnesses when questioning witnesses because he is an incumbent president. This is because there was a concern that it might be difficult to state the truth if we were face-to-face. President

Yoon directly refuted this as well. He countered that he couldn't exert influence because his job was suspended. At the same time, he emphasized that the person who knows this case well and the person who knows it best is himself. I've said a lot of things and there are a lot of things besides this, but we'll organize it a little more and give it to you next time. Isn't it meaningful that the president attended the impeachment trial today?

[Reporter]
That's right. Today is actually the first time that President Yoon Suk Yeol has come out in public since declaring martial law. I've made several conversations, but they were all pre-recorded prepared videos. Therefore, it is understood that it has been 49 days since December 3rd to come out and speak in a public place. It seems meaningful that President Yoon's appearance was revealed for the first time.

[Reporter]
President Yoon Suk Yeol, you will all remember. I made a statement when I declared martial law, and I've made a number of statements since then. And when the sun changed, I sent a message to the supporters in front of the residence. And they released the warrant they filmed just before they were arrested to the media after they were arrested. However, even though I sent such a message, I never had a chance for reporters to ask questions. When he was arrested by the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit and escorted to the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, it was difficult for reporters to even access the screen by going into the place where the screen was installed. It was the same when the arrest warrant was reviewed. I went into the underground parking lot and didn't encounter the reporters. I think these things can be meaningful because the president came out on the hearing day today and answered questions. How many witnesses have been chosen at today's hearing? What happened?

[Reporter]
Since then, witnesses to be questioned have been adopted at the hearing date. I'll explain it separately for now. First of all, the National Assembly's impeachment prosecution, or witnesses on the part of the claimant. There are Hong Jang-won, former deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, Lee Jin-woo, commander of the Capital Defense Command, Yeo In-hyeong, and Kwak Jong-geun, commander of the Special Warfare Command. National Police Agency Commissioner Jo Ji-ho issued a statement of reason for not attending due to health problems, but the court has put the recall on hold. Next is the President of Yoon Suk Yeol, so the witness on the respondent's side. Lee Sang-min, former Minister of Public Administration and Security, Park Chun-seop, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, Kim Yong-hyun, former Minister of National Defense, and Kim Hyun-tae, 707 special commander, were selected as witnesses. And today, it was announced during martial law. He also expressed his position before the investigation of the evidence of decree No. 1. First of all, President Yoon explained that former Minister Kim Yong-hyun's declaration of emergency martial law during the former military regime was written as it was, and that the president revised it several characters.

He went on to say that it was intended to stop and warn the large opposition party's abuse of impeachment and legislative runaway, stressing that it was intended to be martial law, but he had no intention of enforcing the decree. In particular, he emphasized that he did not have a specific execution plan. He explained that the decree's ban on political activities was also intended to ban illegal activities by the National Assembly, not to dissolve the National Assembly, or to prevent legislative or legislative activities. Furthermore, he claimed that he had never ordered the arrest of Han Dong-hoon, former representative of People's Power, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, or legal professionals.

[Reporter]
As I have said several times, the 3rd pleading date was held for about an hour and 43 minutes today. However, a little more than 20 minutes have passed, but President Yoon Suk Yeol's vehicle has not yet come out. You may be getting ready to start. Also, it may be necessary to prepare in advance for security. Let's look at what happened today about the hearing date. There are several things that the National Assembly insisted on. Reporter Lee Kyung-guk will organize that, too.

[Reporter]
First of all, the National Assembly's impeachment bill presented media articles, emphasizing the situation at the time of martial law declaration and the illegality of the decree. He also explained the minutes of the National Assembly meeting as evidence. The members of the State Council came to the National Assembly after the declaration of martial law and testified that the parliamentary process was not followed, that there were procedural flaws, and that there were defects. He emphasized that there were procedural flaws while expressing his position on this part. Subsequently, evidence investigation was conducted on CCTV videos submitted by the National Assembly as evidence. After the declaration of martial law, the scene of a helicopter landing in the National Assembly and the scene of an armed martial law army breaking a window and entering the National Assembly were confirmed in the grand jury. In addition, CCTV footage of the confrontation between National Assembly officials and martial law forces near the Rotender Hall of the National Assembly and the Gwacheon Central Election Commission was played and evidence investigation was conducted. In addition, several videos were played at today's defense session, including martial law forces confiscating NEC employees' mobile phones and taking pictures of the NEC's server.

[Reporter]
President Yoon Suk Yeol's attendance at the impeachment trial today has another meaning. Former Presidents Roh Moo Hyun and Park Geun Hye were impeached earlier, but they have never appeared in a direct defense. However, for the first time in history, the current president of Yoon Suk Yeol came to the hearing date of the impeachment trial. In the past cases, all agents came out and proceeded with the impeachment proceedings. As I told you earlier, we also confirmed that President Yoon came to the hearing and spoke for about a minute just before the impeachment proceedings and trial proceeded, and then actively answered questions. Wasn't it urgent that President Yoon Suk Yeol decided to attend the hearing and announced it to the media?

[Reporter]
That's right. I think we need to look at yesterday's situation first. Yesterday, the high-ranking government official's criminal investigation office launched a compulsory recruitment process for President Yoon. I tried to force a job until around 9 p.m. Forced recruitment, the process was carried out to forcibly bring President Yoon Suk Yeol in the Seoul Detention Center to the investigation room of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit. At that time, six people, including prosecutors and investigators from the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, shared two vehicles and visited the Seoul Detention Center. I tried from around 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., but it failed in the end. It is said that President Yoon strongly expressed his willingness to refuse the investigation. After this failure, news spread through President Yoon's lawyers that President Yoon will attend the impeachment trial today.

Of course, there have been many talks that President Yoon will attend the impeachment trial of the Constitutional Court in person. President Yoon's position that "I will leave when the time is right" has long been handed down through lawyers, but he has also stated that he will leave once personal safety and mishaps are resolved after the arrest warrant is issued. However, yesterday, he suddenly announced that he would attend the third hearing of the impeachment trial, and his intention was confirmed that he would do his best not only today but also in the future. The Constitutional Court also confirmed President Yoon's intention to attend and expressed his opinion in person on the third hearing day today.

[Reporter]
So far, there is no vehicle in which President Yoon Suk Yeol is in sight. It's been almost 30 minutes since the defense was over. It seems that the preparation work is getting longer. The Constitutional Court will tell you this much. If there is any additional news, we will organize it again and deliver it to you. Please come out to Sangam-dong studio.