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Constitutional Court justice Choo Sun-hoe wore an easy expression Friday following the release of the presidential impeachment verdict, as if he had been relieved of a tremendous load. Choo had been trying extremely hard to save his words for this day. After the ruling was announced, however, he expressed his impressions to reporters in the court¡¯s cafeteria, saying, ¡°I really, really feel free.¡±
Meanwhile Constitutional Court president Yun Young-chul, who personally recited the ruling, simply said, ¡°I thank you for your interest.¡±
The following comes from our Q&A session with Justice Choo.
How do you feel about the impeachment ruling being over?
¡°I feel as if I have passed through a long tunnel.¡±
What was the most difficult part?
Everything was difficult. While holding hearings for about two months, each [justice¡¯s] opinions were settled, so it did not take much time to organize the ruling. However deciding whether to release the minority opinions was most difficult.
You had an unfortunate connection with President Roh 16 years ago.
Humans cannot control fate. It isn¡¯t my decision. But since I was a public prosecutor and Roh was an opposition lawyer at that time, it was a matter of duties. The press extensively reports about our "unfortunate connection," but we are of similar ages and we didn't really have an "unfortunate connection."
Opinions among the justices was split on releasing minority opinions.
If I were to release our internal discussions, it would be grounds for my impeachment. I couldn't take responsibility if I'm impeached [laughter]. How could thoughts on the constitution be the same if we've all walked different paths to get here? Personal opinions being split during discussions is democracy.
There are already talk about how many supported the impeachment and how many agreed on dismissing it. Will that information be released to the public later on?
I am in the legal profession. I promised not to reveal it until my death. Evaluations are up to history.
One word to the President?
¡°¡¦.¡±
(Choi Kyung-woon, codel@chosun.com )
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