South Korean President Yoon will accept the court’s decision even if he ends his presidential term, Reuters lawyer says
Near Ju-min Park
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court leading the impeachment case against him in parliament, even if it decides to remove the suspended leader from office, his lawyer said on Thursday.
“So if the decision is ‘removal,’ it cannot be accepted,” Yoon Kab-keun, Yoon’s lawyer, said at a press conference when asked if Yoon would accept whatever the outcome of the trial was.
Yoon previously defied court requests to file legal briefs before the court began hearings on Dec. 27, but his lawyers said he was willing to appear in person to argue his case.
The suspended president has defied repeated calls in a separate criminal investigation into allegations that he engineered the rebellion with his Dec. 3 martial law proposal.
Yoon, a lawyer, said the president was currently at his official residence and appeared healthy, amid speculation about the suspended leader’s whereabouts.
Presidential security guards resisted an initial attempt to arrest Yoon last week although he faces another attempt after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break through the security blockade and capture the militant leader.
Seok Dong-hyeon, another lawyer advising Yoon, said Yoon views the attempts to arrest him as politically motivated and aimed at humiliating him by bringing him out in public in handcuffs.
