Seoul: Former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min and National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik are scheduled to testify at President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial on Tuesday. The proceedings have reached a critical phase with only two more hearings planned this week, though additional sessions may still be scheduled by the Constitutional Court.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the upcoming seventh hearing will feature Lee, who has been summoned as a witness by both Yoon's legal team and the National Assembly's representatives. Lee attended a Cabinet meeting convened by Yoon just before the declaration of martial law on December 3. The court is expected to question him on the meeting's alleged procedural issues and accusations that he was instructed by Yoon to cut power and water to major media outlets.
Shin Won-sik, also set to testify on Tuesday, was present at a Cabinet meeting held in the early hours of December 4. This meeting was convened to lift the martial law decree after it was rejected by the National Assembly.
In addition to Lee and Shin, two other witnesses are scheduled to appear: Baek Jong-wook, former third deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, and Kim Yong-bin, secretary-general of the National Election Commission. They are expected to be questioned regarding Yoon's allegations of election fraud, which he cited as a reason for imposing martial law.
Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly in December on charges of inciting an insurrection through his brief imposition of martial law. The Constitutional Court is currently evaluating whether to uphold the impeachment, which would remove him from office, or dismiss it, allowing him to be reinstated. Yoon is being held at a detention center pending a separate criminal trial on the insurrection charges.