Illegal adoption of Hong Jang-won’s memo

Feb 21, 2025, 08:08 am

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Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, is testifying as a witness in the fifth hearing of President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 4, 2025./ Source: Constitutional Court

AsiaToday reporter Chung Chae-hyung

Legal experts continue to raise concerns about the Constitutional Court's adoption of the list of politicians to be arrested written by Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, as evidence. They point out that Moon Hyung-bae, the acting chief of the Constitutional Court, adopting Hong Jang-won's memo as evidence would be a violation of the Constitutional Court Act. Additionally, there are criticisms that the Constitutional Court is ignoring all arguments made by President Yoon Suk Yeol and pre-determining the outcome in a "tailored trial."

"Hong's memo is too contaminated to be trusted. Trying to use the memo as key evidence in the impeachment trial does not meet the requirements for a trial," lawyer Cho Dae-hwan said in a phone interview with Asiatoday. "Even if a ninth-grade civil servant is disciplined, sufficient procedures are guaranteed, allowing for reversal later. It is not right for the Constitutional Court to disallow President Yoon's legitimate procedural demands."

Constitutional scholar Heo Young, a chair professor at Kyung Hee University School of Law, also commented on the adoption of Hong's memo as evidence, saying, "Didn't people like former Capital Defense Command Chief Lee Jin-woo, former Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung, former Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun, 707 Special Mission Unit head Kim Hyun-tae, and former senior National Intelligence Service deputy director Hong Jang-won testify? The sincerity of the memo, which Hong submitted to the investigative agency, is questionable whether it is handwritten or not." He stressed, "It is a clear violation of the law that the Constitutional Court will simply adopt Hong's memo as evidence without verifying its authenticity."

Professor Heo recently outlined ten cases of violations by the Constitutional Court, highlighting issues such as, not guaranteeing the seven-day deadline for submission of a written answer, violating the Constitutional Court Act by not prohibiting the request to send documents of pending cases, accepting the withdrawal request of the core 'crime of rebellion' of the impeachment, not guaranteeing the right to participate in the interrogation of witnesses for the accused, and more.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Kim Yong-tae made a guest appearance on News1's 'Fact & View,' pointing out, "The soldiers who practiced martial law testified in the criminal prosecution record that they were ordered to arrest, but some testified in the Constitutional Court contrary to what was stated in the prosecution record. The Criminal Procedure Act does not allow prosecution records containing such information to be adopted as evidence. These processes make many people question whether the Constitutional Court is really conducting a fair trial."

Meanwhile, Hong appeared as a witness at the 10th hearing of President Yoon's impeachment trial on Thursday and stated that he brought the actual memo. Hong had not brought the memo during his previous appearance as a witness on Feb. 4.

#constitutional court #Hong Jang-won #memo