Pres. Yoon attends impeachment trial

[Anchor]

Trump is back.

The golden age that President Trump aims to usher in for America could be a challenging era for us.

Today (1.21), as changes that will shake not only the United States but the world have begun, our president, who is suspended from duty, attended the impeachment trial.

Today’s special KBS 9 o'clock news will sequentially cover the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk Yeol and the inauguration of President Trump.

First, we will report on the appearance of the sitting president who directly attended the impeachment trial, with reporter Kim Min-ah.

[Report]

About an hour before the third impeachment trial session began.

The doors of the Seoul Detention Center opened, and vehicles began to move.

The blue transport vehicle carrying President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived at the Constitutional Court about 20 minutes later.

Heading straight to the trial chamber from the underground parking lot, President Yoon appeared in a suit and took his seat at the defendant's table.

Immediately after confirming his attendance, President Yoon requested the opportunity to speak and briefly stated his position.

["I have lived my public life firmly holding onto the belief in liberal democracy."]

President Yoon continued to speak directly, engaging in a Q&A session with the constitutional judges.

When the National Assembly's impeachment prosecution team played a video showing the military entering the National Assembly during the state of emergency, he gazed at the screen without any noticeable change in expression.

The National Assembly prosecution team requested that witnesses, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, be questioned in the absence of President Yoon, arguing that it would be difficult for them to testify truthfully if they faced him in the trial chamber.

[Jang Soon-wook/Lawyer/National Assembly Impeachment Prosecution Team: "Please allow the questioning to take place while the defendant (President Yoon) is absent, or if that is difficult, at least set up a barrier so that the defendant and the witnesses do not make direct eye contact..."]

However, President Yoon stated that due to his suspended status, he could not exert any influence, emphasizing that the person who knows the details of the case best is the president himself.

The impeachment trial, which marked the first time in constitutional history that a president attended the proceedings in person, concluded at 3:43 PM after about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

KBS News, Kim Min-ah.