Written by Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea's Constitutional Court will hold its first hearing on Friday in the case of President Yoon Suk-yul after parliament impeached him over his Dec. 3 martial law decree.
Here are the key issues for South Korea's way forward.
What's next?
After his impeachment on December 14, Yoon's presidential powers were suspended but he remained in office, maintaining immunity from most charges except rebellion or treason. Prime Minister appointed by Yoon Han Dak-soo is acting president.
The Constitutional Court must decide within 180 days whether to remove Yoon from office or reject the accusation and restore his powers. If the court impeaches Yoon or he resigns, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.
The court is scheduled to hold its first preparatory session on Friday.
Opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, head of Parliament's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is leading the case for Yoon's impeachment.
Leon's legal counsel has not yet been announced, but his background as a prosecutor has sparked reports that he is turning to his former colleagues or may even represent himself.
Kim Hong-il, a former prosecutor and former head of the Broadcasting Regulatory Commission under Yoon, as well as former Constitutional Court spokesman Bae Bo-yeon, are expected to join Yoon's legal teams in the impeachment review and in criminal investigations, local media reported. .
Obstacles to the court's ruling?
Under South Korea's constitution, six judges must agree in order to oust the impeached president. The nine-member Constitutional Court now has three vacant seats, so the current judges must vote unanimously to remove Yoon.
The Constitutional Court said it could deliberate and hear arguments with only six judges.
The three vacant positions are allocated to Parliament to fill. The main opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, is seeking to fill the vacant seats.
Parliament held a hearing for two potential nominees on Monday, which the ruling People Power Party boycotted, saying acting President Han had no right to appoint Constitutional Court judges.
There is precedent for an acting president to appoint a judge to the Constitutional Court, as happened when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2016-2017.
What happens in court?
In South Korea's only previous impeachment of a president, the court took three months to oust Park in 2017.
This time, the terms of two justices expire in April, and legal experts expect the court will seek to issue a ruling before then to reduce uncertainty.
Academics say that in the past, Constitutional Court judges did not vote predictably according to political leanings, but rather made their decisions on a case-by-case basis, based on their interpretation of the constitution.
Conservative attempts to rally public support for Leon are not expected to influence the court's ruling, as Park was removed from office despite continued conservative marches to keep her in power, which competed with candlelight marches to remove her from power.
In the case of Park, who like Yoon belonged to the center-right party, the court voted unanimously to impeach her, including some judges considered conservative and two Park appointees.
Yoon also faces criminal investigations related to the martial law order.
If he is charged, he can ask the Constitutional Court to suspend the 180-day period on the impeachment ruling. The court rejected a similar request in Park's case.
In 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun, who belonged to a center-left party, was impeached on charges of failing to maintain political neutrality as required of a high-ranking public official.
The court rejected the request after about two months, and Roh completed his five-year term.
