President Yoon Suk-yeol will attend the first criminal trial for the charge of insurrection leader and the hearing for the cancellation of his arrest warrant, which will be held starting at 10 a.m. on the 20th. President Yoon is also expected to attend the 10th trial hearing for his impeachment at the Constitutional Court, starting at 3 p.m. that day.
The 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (presided over by Director General Ji Kwi-yeon) will conduct the first preparatory hearing for President Yoon's insurrection leader charges and the hearing for the cancellation of the arrest warrant requested by President Yoon's side, starting at 10 a.m. on the 20th. The preparatory hearing is a procedure to organize witnesses, evidence, and issues before the main trial begins. There is no obligation for the defendant to appear in court. However, President Yoon has decided to attend the hearing for the cancellation of the arrest warrant, which will be held alongside the trial.
Earlier, President Yoon's side requested the cancellation of his arrest warrant on the 4th. The period for President Yoon's arrest expired on the 25th of last month. However, the prosecution charged President Yoon with insurrection the following day. President Yoon's camp argues that this is an illegal arrest.
According to the Criminal Procedure Act, if there are no grounds for or if the grounds for arrest have ceased, the court must cancel the arrest by its own authority or by request from the prosecutor, defendant, or defense attorney. The cancellation of an arrest nullifies the arrest itself, differing from bail, which allows for conditional release upon the deposit of a security bond.
Starting at 3 p.m. that day, the 10th trial hearing for President Yoon's impeachment will take place at the Constitutional Court's main courtroom in Jongno-gu, Seoul. On that day, witness testimonies are expected to be conducted for Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (3 p.m.), former First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won of the National Intelligence Service (5 p.m.), and former Commissioner Jo Gi-ho of the Korean National Police Agency (7 p.m.). All three witnesses have testified against President Yoon.
The sides of President Yoon and the National Assembly are expected to question Prime Minister Han regarding whether there was prior collusion concerning the emergency martial law on December 3 and the legality of the Cabinet meeting held before the declaration of martial law. Prime Minister Han has claimed that he was unaware of the emergency martial law plan during police investigations and his own impeachment trial, and he opposed it as soon as he learned about it. He also raised procedural flaws regarding the Cabinet meeting prior to the declaration of martial law.
It is expected that testimonies regarding former Deputy Director Hong and former Commissioner Jo will focus on whether President Yoon issued orders for the 'arrest of politicians.' Former Deputy Director Hong is the only witness who has appeared twice. He testified during the 5th hearing on the 4th that President Yoon directly ordered the arrest of politicians. He also stated that he received and noted the arrest list during a call with former Army Counterintelligence Command Chief Lee In-hyung, detailing that process. However, during the 8th hearing on the 13th, National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong, who appeared as a witness, provided conflicting testimony, leading President Yoon's side to raise doubts about the credibility of Deputy Director Hong's statements.
Former Commissioner Jo was selected as a witness twice earlier but did not show up due to health reasons. However, after President Yoon's side requested his forced appearance, he decided to attend the testimony that day. It is expected that inquiries regarding whether President Yoon issued instructions for blocking the National Assembly and for the arrest of politicians during the emergency martial law will be made concerning former Commissioner Jo. According to the prosecution's questioning record released by the National Assembly, former Commissioner Jo testified that President Yoon directly ordered the arrest of politicians six times during phone calls on the day of the martial law.
Meanwhile, the trial date for President Yoon's impeachment designated by the Constitutional Court is the last hearing for that day. If the witness testimonies conclude on that day, the trial may hold one more hearing in the future, and the next date may be when a decision on the impeachment will be rendered.
In the past, former President Park Geun-hye had 17 trial dates, while former President Roh Moo-hyun went through 7 trial dates. Subsequently, former President Park received a ruling to uphold the impeachment after 11 days, and former President Roh had a ruling to dismiss the impeachment after 14 days.