The second hearing in President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial is underway at Korea's Constitutional
Court as we speak.
Let's connect to our Kim Ji-yeon, who is at the court for us today.
Ji-yeon, give us the latest.
Right now, the National Assembly's legal team is questioning Yoon Jeon-chu, who assisted
President Park at her residence... and allegedly acted as a private secretary to the president's
longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil.
Their questions are focused on finding out the nature of her job.
Yoon testified that she was in charge of the president's personal affairs from time-to-time,...
sometimes picking up the president's clothes from designers and cleaners,... if the president
asked.
She also said that she was not fond of Choi, and denied acting as her personal secretary.
She also denied the legal team's reference to a video showing Yoon and Choi together
in a designer clothing shop.
Yoon is also considered a key witness in clarifying the president's whereabouts on the day of
the Sewol-ho ferry disaster in 2014 that killed 304 people.
When asked about her recollection of that day, Yoon said that two of the people in charge
of the president's hair and makeup entered the president's residence on that day.
The other three witnesses called to testify today failed to appear and their court appearances
have been rescheduled.
Former presidential secretaries Lee Jae-man and Ahn Bong-geun are now scheduled to take
the stand on January 19th at 10 a.m.,... which is two weeks from now.
Two others are slated to appear next Thursday -- Lee Young-sun, an official at the presidential
office of Cheong Wa Dae... who assisted President Park at her residence and allegedly acted
as a private secretary to Choi,... and Cho Han-gyu, the former president of the local
daily Segye Ilbo.
The daily published an exclusive report in late 2014 on the ties between Chung Yoon-hoi,
the ex-husband of Choi Soon-sil, and senior presidential officials.
The daily says it was subject to tax audits and search and seizure raids after the report
was published, and said the Park administration had ordered the actions.
What were some of the arguments laid out by the National Assembly's impeachment committee,
and how did the president's lawyers respond to the accusations?
The legal team said the president had failed to fulfill her duties as head of state and
violated the sovereignty of the people by giving Choi access to state documents... and
by colluding with Choi to pressure private businesses to make donations to two government-linked
foundations.
The team also said the president infringed on the freedom of the press by reprimanding
local media outlets that reported on Choi and her inner circle.
The team added the president neglected her duty to protect citizens' lives by failing
to use the resources at her disposal to save lives during the Sewol-ho ferry disaster.
The president's lawyers refuted all the charges brought by the National Assembly team.
The lawyers denied the allegation that the president had pressed the National Pension
Service to support a merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.
They said that would have been impossible because the merger took place eight days before
President Park's one-on-one meeting with Samsung Electronics' Vice President Lee Jae-yong
in July of 2015.
The lawyers also said President Park did not know that Choi was involved with funneling
money through non-profit foundations including Mir and K-Sports.
Back to you. `
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