President Roh Moo-hyun Refuses to Appear at Impeachment Hearing

President Roh Moo-hyun has decided he won’t attend the first impeachment hearing scheduled for March 24, he said through his legal counsel on March 24.

“President Roh has taken advice from his defense team against his appearance at the hearing,” said Moon Jae-in, Roh’s former secretary for civil affairs who leads his defense team. “The president won’t attend the second hearing, either.”

Explaining Roh’s no-show decision, Moon said, “His presence at the hearing may politicize it. What is at issue in the impeachment case is not about finding new facts, but about determining whether or not the case is constitutional.”

Roh’s legal team plans to demand the court start deliberations on the same day of the first hearing or schedule the second hearing as soon as possible, said Moon.

However, the Constitutional Court said President Roh’s no-show would not affect its scheduling of the case. It said that it will hold the first hearing on March 30 as scheduled and that it will reschedule a second hearing in case of Roh’s absence. Under the law, the impeachment case will be allowed to proceed in absentia if the defendant does not show up at the first two hearings.

Justice Joo Son-hoe, who takes charge of the case, said the court will proceed with the case under the law regardless of President Roh’s attendance. “At a meeting on March 15, we will finalize the schedule based on President Roh’s no-show,” said Joo.

“The approval of the impeachment motion is in breach of National Assembly Law for its lack of investigation, due deliberation and discussion,” Justice Minister Kang Kum-sil said in an opinion she submitted to the court. “The three reasons named in the motion, including the president’s breach of election law, cannot constitute appropriate cases for the impeachment.”

National Assembly Speaker Park Kwan-yong has also submitted an opinion to the court, stressing the legality of the impeachment.

Kim Ki-choon, the National Assembly`s Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairman and the chief prosecutor in the impeachment case, plans to submit an opinion on March 29 or March 30.

Sang-Rok Lee Myoung-Gun Lee myzodan@donga.com gun43@donga.com