Court schedules another hearing for Yoon’s impeachment trial, selects impeached PM as witness

The Constitutional Court said Friday it will hold an additional hearing for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment trial next week, selecting impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to testify as a witness.

The 10th formal hearing will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, with Han, Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, and Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, chosen for witness examinations.

The announcement comes a day after the court said the trial’s ninth hearing will take place Tuesday.

The court had previously rejected a request from Yoon’s lawyers to call Han as a witness, citing the lack of necessity. But the lawyers requested Han’s presence again, saying he best understood the reasons behind the Dec. 3 martial law imposition.

Hong had testified at the court earlier this month, but Yoon’s lawyers requested he appear again, raising doubt over his testimony.

Cho, who is suffering from blood cancer, had also previously been selected as a witness but failed to appear twice, citing health reasons. If he fails to appear again, the court could consider forcefully bringing him in.

He is considered to be a key witness in the trial due to his alleged involvement in martial law operations.

The court is expected to decide whether to schedule more hearings based on the trial’s proceedings.

If it does not select additional witnesses, the court could conclude oral arguments in the last week of February, and a final decision on whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment or reinstate him is likely to be reached in early or mid-March.

Meanwhile, Thursday’s impeachment hearing will coincide with the first preparatory hearing of Yoon’s criminal trial on charges related to his martial law imposition. The criminal hearing is scheduled to take place in the morning.

Yoon’s legal team requested the Constitutional Court to change the date for the 10th formal hearing to a different date.