South Korea: Court to hold 10th hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial as scheduled
The Constitutional Court said Tuesday it will hold the 10th hearing of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial this week as planned, despite Yoon's request for a postponement, Yonhap reports.
Yoon had asked for Thursday's hearing to be postponed, citing a scheduling conflict with the first preliminary hearing of his criminal trial on insurrection charges.
However, Moon Hyung-bae, the acting court president, said during Tuesday's ninth hearing that the justices agreed to hold the next hearing as planned at 2 p.m. Thursday, given it will be hours after the criminal trial hearing at 10 a.m. the same day.
He also cited other factors, including the need to coordinate the schedules of all parties involved, such as Yoon and the National Assembly's legal teams, the justices and the witnesses.
At Tuesday's hearing, the legal representatives of Yoon and the National Assembly are each set to present a summary of their arguments so far.
The court has said it will also examine evidence that has been adopted but not yet reviewed. No witnesses are scheduled to testify.
The hearing will leave only one additional hearing Thursday before proceedings wrap up, and each side is asked to present their final statements.
Impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo; Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service; and Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, have been called to testify as witnesses Thursday.
The court said it has asked prosecutors to forcibly bring in Cho, who has rejected two previous requests to testify, citing health issues.
Yoon arrived at the court in a convoy but left shortly before the hearing began to return to the Seoul Detention Center, where he has been held since mid-January.
His legal team said he met with his lawyers and determined his attendance was not necessary, as they would only be presenting a summary of their arguments so far.
The president has been standing trial at the Constitutional Court on the validity of his impeachment by the National Assembly over his short-lived Dec. 3 imposition of martial law, while also facing criminal charges of inciting an insurrection through the decree.
Under the current timeline, the court is expected to deliver its ruling in early or mid-March to either remove him from office or reinstate him.
As reported earlier President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law, accusing the nation's opposition of paralyzing the government with "anti-state activities," but the National Assembly voted hours later to demand that Yoon lift martial law in December last year.
