South Korea's Constitutional Court announced Friday that it will hold hearings for the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol on January 14 and 16.
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) — South Korea's Constitutional Court announced Friday that it will hold hearings for the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol on Jan. 14 and 16.
A Constitutional Court judge said earlier today during the second preparatory hearing that the preliminary hearing had been completed and a new hearing would be held on January 14 to begin formal proceedings.
He added that a second formal hearing had been set for January 16 in anticipation of the accused's absence, referring to the impeached president.
Mr. Yoon's defenders requested further discussions during additional preparatory hearings, but this request was rejected by the courts. On the side of the National Assembly's lawyers, this request was denounced as an attempt to slow down the legal procedure.
An impeachment motion targeting Mr. Yoon was adopted by the National Assembly on December 14 and sent to the Constitutional Court to deliberate on it for a maximum of 180 days, during which the presidential powers of the head of state are suspended.
Yoon Suk-yeol, who was designated by the investigative services as an alleged leader of the insurrection, had declared martial law on the night of December 3, but this was revoked by the Assembly nationally a few hours later.■
