South Korea: Constitutional Court to Conduct Initial Assembly of Justices Regarding President Yoon's Impeachment
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Seoul, Dec 16 (NationPress) The Constitutional Court of South Korea is scheduled to convene its first assembly of justices on Monday to assess the parliamentary impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, initiating the groundwork for his impeachment trial.
On Saturday, the National Assembly approved an impeachment motion against Yoon due to his brief declaration of martial law on December 3, which suspended his presidential authority and left the decision regarding his future to the Constitutional Court, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
The court will gather its justices to discuss hearing schedules, procedures for reviewing pertinent evidence, and other relevant matters.
Following this meeting, the court will communicate its findings, but it is anticipated that the deliberation timeline will remain undisclosed as it is treated as confidential under the Constitutional Court Act.
On Monday, the court is also likely to deliver the adjudication request for Yoon's impeachment to him, along with a request for his response, although Yoon is not obligated to reply.
Once the court finalizes its arrangements, public impeachment hearings will commence, and Yoon will be expected to participate.
The court has a maximum of 180 days from the date of receiving the case to determine whether to uphold the parliamentary decision or restore Yoon to power. Should the decision be upheld, Yoon would become the second president to be removed from office following former President Park Geun-hye in 2017, prompting a snap presidential election within 60 days.
Earlier, prosecutors indicated that the President failed to comply with their summons for Sunday and mentioned that they would soon issue another directive.
The special prosecution team investigating Yoon's failed martial law declaration stated they had sent a summons to him last Wednesday, requesting his appearance at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office for questioning at 10 a.m. on Sunday. However, Yoon did not attend, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
