Yoon Suk Yeol Decides Against Constitutional Complaint Over 'Obstruction of Arrest' Ruling, Citing Judicial System Harmony

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol has decided not to file a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court regarding his conviction for charges including obstruction of an arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

Yoon's legal team stated on July 20, "While former President Yoon agrees that there are many aspects of the Supreme Court's ruling that are difficult to accept, he has made it clear that a constitutional complaint against a final court judgment is difficult to reconcile with the judicial system envisioned by the current Constitution of the Republic of Korea, and does not align with his own constitutional views."

Regarding the Supreme Court's ruling, Yoon's side argued, "Despite the case involving significant issues of constitutional order and the criminal justice system, such as the scope of the CIO's investigative authority and the President's immunity from prosecution, the Supreme Court did not refer the case to a full bench and reached a decision that contradicts existing precedents."

They further stated, "As the highest court, it failed to fulfill its duty to provide standards for the interpretation of the Constitution and laws and to ensure the consistency of precedents, so the legal and constitutional questions are by no means light," adding that there were opinions within the legal team that a constitutional review should be sought again.

However, they added, "The legal team also shares former President Yoon's constitutional judgment, in that the constitutional order must respect not only substantive values but also the distribution of authority and procedural limits," and concluded, "In accordance with the principled judgment that respecting the judicial structure and the distribution of power among institutions as defined by the current Constitution is the path to upholding the rule of law, we have decided not to file a constitutional complaint."

Previously, the Third Division of the Supreme Court (Justice Lee Sook-yeon presiding) upheld the lower court's sentence of seven years in prison for former President Yoon, who was indicted on charges including special obstruction of official duties and abuse of power.

(Photo: Provided by Seoul Central District Court, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.