Constitutional Court to announce ruling on Yoon's impeachment on Friday

President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the 10th hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, Feb. 20. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The Constitutional Court will deliver a ruling on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment at 11 a.m. on Friday, it said, Tuesday.

The court decision comes 111 days after the National Assembly passed a motion to impeach the president on Dec. 14, 2024, following Yoon's declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 which the Assembly viewed was against the Constitution.

Immediately after the Assembly's passage of the motion, the case was referred to the court, which then held 11 hearings through Feb. 25 by calling 16 witnesses. Eight justices have since gone through deliberations.

If the court upholds the impeachment motion by concluding Yoon violated the Constitution and laws on martial law, Yoon will be removed from office immediately and a snap presidential election must be held within 60 days from the ruling. Given that the 60th day from April 4 will be June 3, the election, if held, is likely to take place either on the last week of May or the first week of June.

On the other hand, the president will immediately resume his duties without delay if the court dismisses the case by concluding that he did not violate the law or that the violations were not grave, or it rejects the case by concluding the impeachment motion lacks formal requirements.

It requires at least six out of the eight justices' approval to uphold the impeachment motion. The court’s decision is a single-trial and this final ruling cannot be appealed.

The ruling will be read by the court's acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae.

The ruling will be broadcast live and public attendance at the grand courtroom will also be permitted.

Police set up barricades in front of the Constitutional Court in central Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

The impeachment ruling for former President Roh Moo-hyun's trial was 61 pages long, while that of former President Park Geun-hye was 89 pages. Given the extended deliberation period in Yoon’s case, the ruling document might be longer than the previous cases.

Yoon’s impeachment trial has now set the record for the longest presidential impeachment case in Korean history, both in terms of the overall duration from the Assembly's passage of the impeachment motion to the ruling, which is 111 days, and the time elapsed from the conclusion of arguments to the final decision, which is 38 days.

Roh's impeachment trial in 2004 was concluded 63 days after it was taken to the court, while Park’s case took 91 days to reach a verdict in 2017.

After the ruling date was announced, the presidential office stated that it will "calmly await the Constitutional Court's decision."

The ruling People Power Party has pledged that it will accept the ruling.

"We expect a neutral and fair decision," Rep. Kwon Young-se, the party's interim leader, said. "The ruling party has repeatedly expressed the need to accept the decision, while I understand the opposition party has not made such statements."

Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, senior spokesperson of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, welcomed the court's move, urging it to respect the will of people.

"After a long wait of four months, the Constitutional Court has finally responded," Jo said. "We hope the court will deeply respect the will of the people, who are the sovereign of the country."

Meanwhile, police plan to establish a 100-meter "vacuum zone" around the court in central Seoul on Friday, aiming to prevent public access as a precautionary measure for safety due to rallies supporting and opposing the impeachment that have been staged for months around the area, with scuffles taking place. Authorities will enforce the highest-level security alert, deploying around 20,000 officers, while drone flights over the court will also be prohibited.