Published : Feb. 12, 2017 - 14:46
President Park Geun-hye and her attorneys are expected to focus on their legal argument and highlight new "information" to get the Constitutional Court to reject the impeachment motion, political observers in Seoul said Sunday.
The chief executive, who was impeached by parliament on Dec. 9 in relation to corruption charges, has been suspended from exercising her powers for 66 days. This exceeds the 63 days that late President Roh Moo-hyun was suspended from office after he was impeached in early 2004.
President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)
The opposition parties have recently renewed their calls for a speedy resolution to the ongoing trial and the court too has demanded that Park's attorneys submit the final summary of their arguments by Feb. 23, which opens the possibility of a ruling being made in early March.
"With the possibility of a ruling approaching, Park will likely seek to turn around the situation that led to the impeachment," a local pundit said.
He speculated that her legal representatives will concentrate on bringing to light voice recordings that have recently surfaced that show Ko Young-tae, who was instrumental in revealing Choi Soon-sil's alleged influence peddling, may himself have been involved in trying to steal from the government.
Ko was once a close business partner of Choi, a long-time friend of Park. He has since had a falling out with the president's confidante.
Recordings reported by the several media outlets indicated Ko seemingly plotted to make quick money using Choi's connections. He, moreover, said that he wanted to be appointed to a senior management position of the K-Sports Foundation, a nonprofit foundation at the center of the scandal, by getting rid of the existing president.
Park's attorneys have strongly hinted that the tapes "clearly showed" Ko seemingly trying to engage in illegal activities.
The recordings and the transcripts have been submitted to the Constitutional Court by prosecutors who were in possession of the information since late last year.
"Because of the need to check the recordings in detail, Park's attorneys may demand a delay in the trial proceedings," said an inside source following the trial. "They can ask the court for more hearings to examine the evidence."
There have been growing calls among conservatives that Ko, who has avoided appearing before the Constitutional Court needs be questioned and arrested. There are even suspicions that the tablet PC that triggered the entire scandal and was found in Ko's former office was planted there "on purpose."
A delay could, moreover, cause another vacancy that would mean only seven justices left on the bench in the impeachment trial.
Once acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi retires on March 13, only two of the seven justices have to vote against the impeachment motion for Park to be reinstated.
Because of this, Park's lawyers have been accused of trying to drag the trial out as long as possible.
Besides this move, Park may opt to accept a face-to-face meeting with the special counsel next week and refute all the allegations raised against her in person.
She has already said in an interview with an Internet TV service on Jan. 25 that the state prosecutors who initially investigated the case were biased, and even argued that the entire impeachment process seemed to have been "orchestrated" in advanced.
The chief executive consistently maintained she broke no law severe enough to warrant being impeached and that any rules broken were carried out without her knowledge.
A source close to the presidential office told Yonhap News Agency that Park could even appeal directly to her supporters and get them to hit the streets in greater numbers.
A rise in support for her could force the court to take notice and make it hard for her to be ousted from power.
Meanwhile, a court insider said that Constitutional Court judges were opposed to former Chief Justice Park Han-cheol's comments on Jan. 25 about a deadline for the trial.
"Most of the other justices disapproved of setting a date because it could cause unnecessary controversy with the proceedings still under way and more evidence needing to be checked," the source said. "Most thought that Park was just outlining his own personal views when he said the ruling must be made before March 13."
The remarks by the former chief justice who stepped down last month triggered strong objections from the president's lawyers, who raised questions about the fairness of the trial. (Yonhap)