The Justice Ministry said Friday that it does not consider its decision to allow hair styling for President Yoon Suk Yeol ahead of his televised impeachment trial to be a special favor.
Yoon, who has been under arrest since Jan. 15 for a criminal investigation related to his Dec. 3 martial law declaration, attended a hearing at the Constitutional Court on Thursday, wearing a suit and a tie, with neatly groomed hair. It was his second appearance at the hearing; in his previous one, he wore the same outfit and had his hair similarly groomed.
Rep. Park Eun-jung of the minor left-leaning Rebuilding Korea Party claimed that Yoon received preferential treatment.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Rep. Park alleged that Yoon’s team had requested permission for hair styling before both court sessions and that the ministry approved the request.
In response, the ministry issued a statement Friday saying, “Before President Yoon's attendance, the presidential office requested the Seoul Detention Center’s cooperation, citing protocol, courtesy and the significance of the constitutional trial involving a sitting president.”
The ministry further explained, “We sought cooperation from the detention center because he is the sitting president. There is also a precedent where the center allowed grooming for a candidate filming a video inside the detention center, so we do not consider it a special favor.”
In April last year, Song Young-gil, leader of the minor Sonamoo Party, recorded a campaign speech for the general election inside the Seoul Detention Center.
shinjh@heraldcorp.com
