South Korea: Court allows press to film ex-President Yoon's second trial hearing

Seoul, April 17 (IANS) A South Korean court on Thursday allowed the press to take photographs and videos of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's second criminal trial hearing on insurrection charges next week.

The Seoul Central District Court said it decided to open the courtroom to the press before the start of the hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday.

"Following a request for the defendant's opinion, we decided to allow (filming) after comprehensively considering the level of public interest, the people's right to know, and the legal interests of the defendant and other relevant people," the court said.

During the first hearing earlier this week, the same court denied access to the press, leading to criticism the court was giving preferential treatment to Yoon.

The court explained it received two requests from the press to film the hearing but rejected both as they were filed with little time left to ask for the defendant's opinion and follow other necessary procedures.

Under relevant court rules, a presiding judge can permit filming inside the courtroom with the defendant's consent or when it is deemed justifiable for the public interest. Yoon's side is known to have objected to the filming, Yonhap news agency reported.

In the past, the media were allowed to photograph and film the first hearing of former President Park Geun-hye's corruption trial in 2017, as well as the first hearing of former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's corruption trial the following year.

The South Korean government on Tuesday formally designated June 3 as the date of the next presidential election following the ouster of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Meanwhile, Yoon, who dramatically rose from a top prosecutor to the presidency in about three years, became the nation's second President to be formally removed from office, with his surprise martial law bid rattling the nation for months and deepening political polarisation.

With the ruling, Yoon, 64, follows in the footsteps of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was ousted in 2017 when the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment over a corruption scandal.

Before taking the nation's highest office, Yoon began his career as a prosecutor in 1994, rising through the ranks to lead an investigation team into Park's corruption scandal that ultimately led to her ouster and subsequent imprisonment.

In 2019, he was appointed as the nation's top prosecutor under then South Korean President Moon Jae-in but clashed with the administration as he oversaw investigations into family members of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.

Amid mounting pressure from the Moon administration, Yoon stepped down from his post in 2021, only to enter politics shortly after and win the presidential election in 2022 as the candidate for the conservative People Power Party.

Yoon's term was riddled with conflict with an uncooperative National Assembly dominated by the main Opposition Democratic Party (DP). Yoon exercised his presidential veto power against 25 Bills passed by the National Assembly.

Tensions with the DP appeared to reach an extreme in early December as the main Opposition introduced motions to impeach the country's top auditor and a senior prosecutor, with Yoon declaring martial law on December 3, which ultimately led to his downfall.

--IANS

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