Key witnesses ‘deliberately' avoiding subpoena

By Lee Kyung-min





An Bong-geun Lee Jae-man

The Constitutional Court's deliberations on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment case may face an unexpected hurdle as it is unclear whether key witnesses will attend the hearings.

Two former presidential secretaries ― An Bong-geun and Lee Jae-man ― have not received the court's subpoenas as of Wednesday, a day before the second hearing, and it is suspected they are intentionally avoiding receiving them in an attempt to dodge testifying.

According to the court, the subpoenas sent to the two former aides were returned as there was no one at their addresses. Court officials visited their homes in person, but to no avail.

Under the law, people called as witnesses are not required to attend hearings if they do not receive a subpoena before the day of the hearing. Even if they do receive the document, they can submit a written reason why they cannot attend and the court may accept this.

However, if the court does not, they must attend or face punishment of a prison term of up to one year or a 1 million won fine.

While the court says the punishment would make them attend the hearing, people are skeptical because the fine amount is too small and people may prefer being slapped with that as an alternative to experiencing pressure at the hearing.

The two former secretaries also did not attend the National Assembly's hearing in December, after submitting written reasons for absence.

As An and Lee are the first witnesses of the impeachment case, their absence may set a bad precedent for others who are scheduled to attend the following hearings. It may affect the court's plan for a speedy trial.

Besides the two, Yoon Jeon-chu, a former fitness trainer who Park gave an official position to at Cheong Wa Dae and Lee Young-seon, a presidential security official, will attend as they have accepted the subpoenas.

They will be questioned over whether Park abused her power by having them work for her confidant Choi Soon-sil, and by getting An and Lee Jae-man to assist Choi in her visits to Cheong Wa Dae without security checks.