Constitutional Court sets Feb. 27 as final hearing of impeachment

By Lee Kyung-min

The Constitutional Court set Feb. 27 as the final hearing date in the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye, Wednesday, accepting her attorneys’ request to allow them more time to prepare for their defense.

“We decided that the final hearing will be held at 2 p.m. on Feb. 27, after conducting multiple full-panel discussions,” acting court President Justice Lee Jung-mi said.

The court also asked that President Park notify it by Feb. 26 whether she would appear at the final hearing.

Despite the last-minute approval of the defenses’ request, the court will still be able to deliver its decision before March 13 when Lee retires, as a previous impeachment ruling took no more than 14 days of deliberations.

The request for time is one of the primary defense strategies used by Park’s attorneys, who have sought numerous delaying tactics by calling in more witnesses and asking for additional materials to be entered into evidence, which have been rejected repeatedly.

While the attorneys said questioning as many witnesses as possible is crucial in uncovering the truth of the scandal, judges have largely denied their requests, saying they were irrelevant to proving the relationship between President Park and Choi, which is the key point of contention in the impeachment trial.

While the attorneys have criticized the court saying it is acting hastily because of the upcoming retirement of Lee and public sentiment, analysts believe such assertions are merely a desperate attempt to reduce the number of judges to increase the chance of her impeachment being dismissed.

If the ruling is made by eight judges including acting court President Justice Lee, at least three votes are needed to have the impeachment overturned.

However, if the ruling is made by seven judges after Lee retires, Park needs only two votes to stay in power.

One such example was adopted by Cho Won-ryong, one of the defense attorneys, who asked that Kang Il-won, one of the presiding judges, recuse himself.

“Under the pretext of clarifying the points of contention in the impeachment trial, Kang allowed the National Assembly prosecutorial panel to revise earlier impeachment statements written by the National Assembly members,” Cho said.

“Allowing such an altered statement indicates that his capacity to conduct a fair trial has severely compromised it,” he added.

Under the Constitution, affected parties are allowed to ask presiding judges to recuse themselves if they have reason to believe that they cannot expect a fair trial.

The court dismissed the request saying that the claim was no more than a stalling tactic and it would not tolerate any further maneuvers.

Park’s attorneys vehemently criticized the decision saying the court was heavily biased against Park and was making decisions only in favor of the prosecutorial panel.

Cho’s remarks came shortly after Park’s lawyers asked the court to call in National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun and former court President Park Han-chul as witnesses, among many others, in yet another move to stall the proceedings.

Meanwhile, the court wrapped up questioning of key witnesses including former presidential secretary An Chong-bum who expressed regret that his blind loyalty to the President clouded his judgment resulting in the unprecedented political scandal.

While both Cheong Wa Dae officials and defense attorneys are in agreement that Park should honestly express herself before the court, she is reluctant to do so as it would entail grueling questioning from both the judges and the National Assembly prosecutorial panel.