President Yoon Suk Yeol [Photo: Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk Yeol has made the final decision not to file a constitutional complaint regarding the Supreme Court's ruling on the 9th, where the Third Division of the Supreme Court (Justice Lee Sook-yeon presiding) upheld the original sentence of seven years in prison for the President on charges including obstruction of special official duties and abuse of power.

President Yoon's legal team released a statement on the 20th, stating, "The recent Supreme Court ruling involves critical issues concerning the constitutional order and the criminal justice system, such as the scope of the Corruption Investigation Office's (CIO) investigative authority, the President's immunity from prosecution and the limits of compulsory investigations while in office, the legality of search and seizure operations at military secret locations, and the scope of State Council members' deliberation rights and the definition of abuse of power." They added, "Nevertheless, the Supreme Court reached a decision that contradicts existing precedents without referring the case to an en banc panel."

They continued, "Given that the Supreme Court, as the highest court, failed to fulfill its duty to provide standards for the interpretation of the Constitution and laws and to ensure the consistency of precedents and legal stability, the legal and constitutional questions raised by this ruling are by no means insignificant." They added, "Based on these concerns, our legal team reviewed various constitutional appeal procedures, including a 'judicial constitutional complaint' (challenging a court ruling via a constitutional complaint)."

However, the legal team stated that President Yoon conveyed his opinion that "while I agree that there are many points in this Supreme Court ruling that are difficult to accept, a so-called 'judicial constitutional complaint,' which targets a final court judgment for a constitutional appeal, is difficult to reconcile with the judicial system envisioned by the current Constitution of the Republic of Korea and does not align with my consistent constitutional philosophy." The legal team further stated that they share the President's constitutional judgment, noting that the constitutional order must be respected not only for its substantive values but also for the distribution of authority and procedural limits that implement them.

Accordingly, they announced, "We hereby inform you that we have made the final decision not to file a judicial constitutional complaint."