Park meets lawyers over impeachment trial

SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye met with her lawyers for the first time in nearly a month on Tuesday to discuss their next steps in her impeachment trial, one of the attorneys said.

The meeting was held inside a reception room at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, where Park and her lawyers reviewed key issues of her case and recent developments emerging from the eight hearings held so far at the Constitutional Court, according to Lee Joong-hwan. The talks lasted 80 minutes.

The legal defense team briefed the president on the testimonies of witnesses who were summoned to the hearings and the parliamentary impeachment panel's revision to the original impeachment motion that passed Dec. 9. The revised version stipulates that Park's extortion of money from conglomerations was in violation of the Constitution.

Lee said Park was also told about the court's request for clarification on certain issues. The court has called for an explanation on which departments were responsible for the establishment of two nonprofit foundations suspected of being used as secret channels to finance Park's friend Choi Soon-sil.

Park first held talks with her legal representatives on Dec. 29 after the court requested she personally explain her whereabouts and actions during the early hours of a 2014 ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people.

Her inability to respond effectively to the tragedy was cited as one of the reasons for her impeachment.

hague@yna.co.kr
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