Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Yoon’s impeachment trial appears to be nearing end
A Ministry of Justice vehicle carrying President Yoon Suk Yeol is on its way to the Constitutional Court in central Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
Ruling expected in early or mid-March
The Constitutional Court decided Tuesday that it will proceed as scheduled with the 10th hearing in President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial on Thursday, despite a request by Yoon's lawyers to postpone the session. Yoon did not attend the ninth hearing, which began at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Legal experts expect the Constitutional Court to conclude witness examinations on Thursday and hold one or two rounds of closing arguments. The final ruling is anticipated in early to mid-March, after the court’s two-week deliberation period.
Yoon’s legal team had requested a schedule change for the 10th hearing, set for 2 p.m. Thursday, citing the president’s right to defense. The request followed the Seoul Central District Court scheduling the first pretrial hearing in Yoon’s criminal case, where he faces insurrection charges, at 10 a.m. the same day. With both proceedings set to occur simultaneously, his attorneys asked for a schedule adjustment.
However, the Constitutional Court denied the request, stating that Yoon’s presence was not required at the hearing and it would proceed as planned without his attendance.
“He is not required to attend,” a Constitutional Court official said when asked whether the hearing would proceed without Yoon.
Seok Dong-hyeon, right, President Yoon Suk Yeol's attorney, waits in front of the Constitutional Court, while the National Assembly's impeachment prosecution team conducts an interview with reporters in central Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press Corp.
Tuesday's session, held without witness testimony, was structured to allow both the National Assembly’s impeachment prosecution team and Yoon’s legal team to present their arguments for and against impeachment, with each side given two hours to speak.
Although Yoon was initially expected to attend the session — his vehicle was spotted arriving at the court earlier in the day — his attorney later confirmed that he decided against it.
Yoon Kap-keun, an attorney representing the president, explained that Yoon had arrived at the court with the intention of attending the hearing. However, after consulting with his lawyers, it was decided that the session would primarily focus on summarizing and reiterating previous arguments. Yoon is currently being held at Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, following his arrest on Jan. 15 on charges of insurrection related to his brief imposition of martial law in December.
“Since the president had no direct statements to make today, he decided it would be best to entrust the matter to his attorneys and return to the detention center to ensure the smooth progress of the trial,” the attorney said.
During the hearing, both sides — the National Assembly, acting as the prosecution in the impeachment case, and Yoon’s legal team — were allotted two hours each to summarize their arguments and present key written evidence. The National Assembly's side disclosed prosecutorial investigation records, revealing that during martial law, the president instructed Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the National Police Agency (NPA), to "arrest the members of the National Assembly." According to the records, Cho stated that he received a total of six phone calls from Yoon regarding this matter from 11:30 p.m. on the night of the martial law declaration until 1:03 a.m. the following day.
As the Constitutional Court is slated to proceed with the 10th hearing on Thursday, witness examinations are expected to be conducted for three figures: Prime Minister Han Duck-soo who had served as acting president before his own impeachment; Hong Jang-won, a former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service; and NPA head Cho. All three were previously adopted as additional witnesses.
With regard to Cho, who had previously failed to appear at two witness examinations due to health reasons, the Constitutional Court announced Tuesday that that a subpoena had been issued for his compulsory attendance at Thursday's hearing.
If no additional witnesses are admitted, it is unlikely that additional hearing dates will be scheduled, in which case, the impeachment proceedings are likely to end after hearing the president's final statements.