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Former President Park Geun-hye leaves the Seoul Central District Court on Oct.16. It was her first day in court since an additional arrest warrant was issued, extending her prison confinement
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The former president’s legal defense team quit en masse, raising possibility of delaying trial
After declaring that she will fight a “political struggle” instead of a legal battle because of her “distrust of the court,” former South Korean president Park Geun-hye remained in her cell, refusing to appear in court on Oct. 19. The court declared that it would be appointing a state-appointed attorney to represent Park in place of her attorneys, who resigned en masse.
Despite being the defendant, Park was nowhere to be seen during a hearing held on the morning of Oct. 20, with Hon. Kim Se-yun of the 22nd criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court presiding. The previous day, Park had faxed the court a document explaining her inability to attend the hearing for various reasons, including her health.
“Since all of Park’s attorneys have resigned and she has not appointed a new attorney, we will use our authority to begin the process of selecting a state-appointed attorney,” the court said in response. If Park is convicted of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, which is the key charge against her, her prison sentence could range from 10 years to life -- which means that, according to regulation, her trial cannot proceed without legal representation.
On Oct. 16, Park’s seven attorneys (including Yu Yeong-ha) submitted their resignations to protest the court’s decision to issue an additional detention warrant against Park. The court asked Park’s attorneys to reconsider because of “the need for a speedy trial given the disadvantage to the defendant and the public interest,” but the attorneys declined to return.
It’s now a real possibility that Park’s “boycott” of the proceedings will result in a delay of her trial.
The court did not say when the trial would resume. “Since it will take no small amount of time for the newly appointed state attorney to copy the records of the investigation and the hearings and to get a grasp of the case, we will choose the date for a new hearing once the defense is capable of proceeding with the trial,” the court said. Even when an attorney is appointed, Park will probably not cooperate with her new counsel by refusing to meet them in the detention center.
By Kim Min-kyung, staff reporter
Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
