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Constitutional Court to deliver 4 impeachment rulings Thursday, Yoon verdict may move back

Published: 11 Mar. 2025, 18:31 Updated: 12 Mar. 2025, 13:36

Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection Choe Jae-hae speaks at the National Assembly compound in Yeouido, western Seoul on Nov. 29, 2024. [YONHAP]

The Constitutional Court said Tuesday it will deliver its ruling on the impeachment trial of three prosecutors and the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection on Thursday.

As the ruling will take place on 10 a.m. Thursday, the legal community is speculating that President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment hearing, initially expected to take place this week, will be pushed back to a later date.

The court notified the National Assembly and the legal representatives of Lee, Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office Fourth Deputy Chief Prosecutor Cho Sang-won and Anti-Corruption Division 2 Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon on Tuesday morning of the date for the ruling, according to legal sources.

The impeachment cases against the four individuals were submitted to the Constitutional Court simultaneously on Dec. 5 last year, led by the liberal Democratic Party (DP).

The three prosecutors were impeached for allegedly conducting a negligent investigation into suspicions that first lady Kim Keon Hee was involved in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation scandal.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office Chief Lee Chang-soo, right, speaks at the Constitutional Court in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Feb. 24. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Choi was impeached for allegedly mishandling an audit on the relocation of the presidential office and residence, as well as for conducting a targeted audit against Jeon Hyun-hee, the former chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

Choi is also accused of mishandling audits into the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush and the 2020 shooting of a South Korean fisheries official by the North Korean military.

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) called both cases a “political impeachment” by the DP, with PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong saying that the liberal party’s lawmakers should be punished for abuse of power.

The Constitutional Court concluded hearings on the three prosecutors' impeachment cases and Choi's impeachment case on Feb. 24 and 12, respectively.

A person heads into the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 7. [YONHAP]

The Constitutional Court’s argument process was not lengthy.

The impeachment trial of Choi, went through three preliminary hearing sessions on Dec. 17 last year, Jan. 8, and Jan. 22. The official trial hearing lasted only once, on Feb. 12, for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

During the impeachment trial of the prosecutors, the Constitutional Court repeatedly reprimanded the National Assembly for its lack of preparation. At the first preliminary hearing on Dec. 18 last year, the National Assembly failed to appoint legal representatives and did not attend, leading to the session ending in just three minutes.

“If you claim that there are impeachment grounds without specifying the reasons and merely guessing, we cannot make a judgment,” said Justice Kim Hyeong-du at the second preliminary hearing on Jan. 8.

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers his final statement at the 11th and last hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Tuesday evening. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Even during the two trial hearings on Feb. 17 and 24, the National Assembly struggled to specify impeachment grounds, citing reasons such as “the prosecution has not provided the requested materials” and “we have not yet made copies.”

“It would have been better if the evidence investigation had been conducted smoothly during the preliminary hearings to prevent this outcome,” said Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyeong-bae reprimanded the situation, saying, “I have no idea what the impeachment charges are,” the prosecutor said during the final statement.

The court’s decision on Tuesday raised speculation that the ruling on Yoon's impeachment could be delayed until next week.

Except for one instance in 1995, there has never been a case where rulings were issued on two consecutive days, according to a Constitutional Court official. Considering the precedent, this suggests that the ruling on Yoon is unlikely to be delivered this Wednesday or Friday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol greets supporters as he leaves the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi, 52 days after he was first taken into custody. [YONHAP]

Given that the Constitutional Court previously said it would prioritize reviewing Yoon’s case, legal sources indicated that internal deliberations on the matter are taking longer than expected.

“Since the court's decision on March 7 to cancel the arrest warrant, discussions may be intensifying internally as the principles of due process and Yoon’s right to defense gain traction,” Prof. Cha Jin-a of Korea University Law School told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of Korea JoongAng Daily.

Analysts believe that in its effort to issue a unanimous ruling to minimize national division after the verdict, the Constitutional Court may be struggling to reconcile differing opinions.

“If there is a dissenting opinion, the process of either integrating it or acknowledging it and incorporating it into the decision could take additional time,” said Kim Seung-dae, a former professor at Pusan National University Law School who previously served as head of the Constitutional Court’s research department.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]