Judges question witnesses

[Anchor]

The constitutional judges are drawing attention as they pose sharp questions to key witnesses during the impeachment trial.

In particular, when inconsistent or contradictory testimonies arise, they are intensively probing.

Reporter Lee Ho-jun has the story.

[Report]

The sixth hearing of the impeachment trial was held yesterday (2.6).

During the emergency martial law, Constitutional Judge Cheong Hyung-sik began to directly ask about the phone conversation between former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun and President Yoon Suk Yeol.

[Cheong Hyung-sik/Constitutional Judge: "The problem keeps arising because the statements keep changing. So, you have answered a few times, but I will confirm it clearly once again."]

Questions followed about who the subject was that President Yoon said to "pull out."

[Cheong Hyung-sik/Constitutional Judge: "I am asking about the witness's memory. Did you not hear the term 'member of the National Assembly'? Do you have any memory of it?"]

[Kwak Jong-geun/Former Special Warfare Commander: "The expression I heard over the phone was 'pull out the personnel inside.'"]

There were also questions about who mentioned the quorum of 150 members of the National Assembly.

[Cheong Hyung-sik/Constitutional Judge: "When I asked, 'Did you hear it from the president?' you clearly said you remembered hearing about 150 members, later when you heard about it."]

[Kwak Jong-geun/Former Special Warfare Commander: "That was when former Minister Kim Yong-hyun was discussed..."]

In addition to confirming the content of the statements, questions were also asked to understand the circumstances at that time.

[Kim Hyung-du/Constitutional Judge - Kwak Jong-geun/Former Special Warfare Commander: "The witness suddenly thought, 'Should I fire a blank shot, should I shoot a taser, should I cut the electricity?' (Yes.)"]

[Kim Hyung-du/Constitutional Judge - Kwak Jong-geun/Former Special Warfare Commander: "You thought, 'I must do something because I received some kind of instruction,' right? (Yes.)"]

Kim Hyun-tae, the head of the 707th Special Mission Group, stated in a press conference right after the martial law that there was an instruction to "pull them out."

When he denied this during the impeachment trial, he was questioned again.

[Kim Hyung-du/Constitutional Judge: "The other brigade members also heard the commander instructing to pull out the members of the National Assembly? (Yes.) The prosecution said that the witness heard such a story."]

[Kim Hyun-tae/Head of 707th Special Mission Group: "If I stated that, then my memory at that time is correct."]

The questioning of key witnesses, including former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, is expected to continue in the 7th and 8th hearings scheduled for next week.

KBS News, Lee Ho-jun.