The Constitutional Court rewrites the conclusion of the impeachment judgment of former President Yoon, emphasizing the 'spirit of the Constitution' message.
It has been reported that the 'conclusion' part of the impeachment judgment document concerning former President Yoon Seok-yeol was revised after the initial draft was completed, reflecting the opinions of the judges.
According to a report by Yonhap News on the 6th, the Constitutional Court judges unanimously decided to impeach former President Yoon, initially wrote the decision document, and then added the conclusion part. Subsequently, they directed a task force (TF) composed of constitutional researchers to write it.
The contents of the main text, which confirm the facts of the case, review legal violations, and assess their significance, were already completed. The conclusion was reportedly supplemented at the judges’ request thereafter.
Following repeated reviews by the judges, the final five pages of the decision document that were made public was completed. The judges held meetings for two days after the announcement of the ruling date and continued modifying the wording until the morning of the announcement day.
In general, the conclusion of the Constitutional Court's impeachment judgment is limited to 3-4 lines and typically briefly describes the decision and the distribution of judges' opinions. Previous cases involving former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Roh Moo-hyun, as well as Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (acting President), followed this format.
However, this decision document featured a relatively lengthy conclusion. It reflects internal discussions suggesting the need to convey a message of unity and reconciliation, moving beyond just a list of legal arguments, considering the social conflict.
The introduction of the conclusion begins with the phrase from Article 1, Clause 1 of the Constitution: "The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic," and it uses the expression 'the Korean people' at the end, as mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution.
This employs a 'ring composition' structure, placing the identity of the Republic of Korea as a democratic republic as stated in Article 1, Clause 1, at the beginning and the phrase 'the Korean people' from the preamble, emphasizing the sovereignty of the people, at the end.
In particular, the expression 'the Korean people' used at the end is said to be taken from the preamble of the Constitution, which begins with "Our Korean people, shining with a long history and tradition…" While some found this expression awkward as it is not commonly used in everyday life, it was decided after discussions to adopt the phrasing from the preamble of the Constitution verbatim.
Additionally, in the 7,200-character summary read by Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae, the word 'democracy' appeared 9 times, and 'the people' 13 times.
This can be interpreted as the judges emphasizing that especially during times of confusion and division, the spirit of the Constitution, which is the foundation of society, must be returned to in order to protect and develop democracy.
Image source: On April 4 in Jongno-gu, Seoul, during the impeachment ruling of President Yoon Seok-yeol at the Constitutional Court, Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae announced the result. On this day, the Constitutional Court decided to impeach President Yoon unanimously. 2025.4.4/News1, Former President Yoon Seok-yeol / News1, Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae / News1
