The 11th and final debate of the impeachment trial of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was held at the Constitutional Court of South Korea on the afternoon of February 25. When the debate started at 2 pm, Yoon Suk-yeol had not left the Seoul Detention Center where he was being held.
According to the arrangement, the court first conducted an evidence investigation and two - hour final debates by the representative teams of both sides on that day. Then it listened to the final statements of Jeong Cheong - rae, the head of the National Assembly's impeachment committee, and Yoon Suk - yeol himself.
After arriving at the Constitutional Court, Jeong Cheong - rae told the media that in his final statement, he would point out that Yoon Suk - yeol's declaration of martial law was unconstitutional and illegal, and would request the Constitutional Court to rule on removing Yoon Suk - yeol from the presidency.
Yoon Suk - yeol did not attend the debate on time. His representative team said that he "would attend later". Yoon Suk - yeol had attended the debates at the Constitutional Court multiple times before. Recently, there were reports that he had personally drafted the final statement in the detention center.
South Korean public opinion expects that Yoon Suk - yeol and his representative team will still reiterate the justifiability of declaring martial law during the debate, insisting that the declaration of martial law was due to the opposition party's frequent impeachment of government officials and budget cuts, which had put the country in an "emergency state".
The Constitutional Court had held 10 debates before and summoned 16 witnesses to testify. After the final debate, the judges will conduct deliberations and vote on the conclusion proposed by the presiding judge. The legal community predicts that referring to the previous impeachment trials of Presidents Roh Moo - hyun and Park Geun - hye, the Constitutional Court may announce the verdict in mid - March, about two weeks after the end of the debate.
