By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea's Constitutional Court will hold its first hearing on Friday in the case of President Yoon Suk Yeol, after parliament impeached him for his short-term martial law order on Dec. 3.
Here are the key aspects of South Korea's upcoming road.
WHAT'S NEXT?
After being impeached on Dec. 14, Yoon's presidential powers were suspended but he remains in office, maintaining immunity from most charges except for rebellion or treason. Yoon's appointed prime minister Han Duck-soo is the acting president.
The Constitutional Court must make a decision within 180 days whether to remove Yoon from office or dismiss the charges and restore his powers. If the court removes Yoon or resigns, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.
The court is expected to hold a preliminary hearing on Friday.
Opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, head of the parliament's legal and judiciary committee, led the charge to remove Yoon.
Yoon's lawyer has not been announced, but his background as a prosecutor has prompted reports that he is appealing to former colleagues or may represent himself.
Kim Hong-il, a former prosecutor and former head of the media administration under Yoon, and former Constitutional Court speaker Bae Bo-yoon, are expected to join Yoon's legal teams in criminal review and criminal investigation. .
COURT JUDGMENT RULES?
Under South Korea's constitution, six judges must agree to remove an impeached president. The nine-member Constitutional Court currently has three vacancies, so the current justices would have to vote unanimously to remove Yoon.
The Constitutional Court said it could discuss and hear arguments with only six judges.
These three posts are allocated to the closed parliament. The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, wants to fill the vacancies.
Parliament held a hearing for two potential nominees on Monday, which the ruling People Power Party canceled, saying acting president Han did not have the right to appoint Constitutional Court judges.
There is precedent for an acting president to appoint a justice to the Constitutional Court, as happened when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2016-2017.
WHAT HAPPENED IN COURT?
The only impeachment of a South Korean president, the court took three months to exonerate Park in 2017.
This time, the terms of two of the court's judges end in April, and legal experts speculate that the court may want to make a decision before then to reduce uncertainty.
In the past, scholars said, the judges of the Constitutional Court did not vote predictably based on political leanings but decided each case, based on their interpretation of the constitution.
Conservative efforts to gain popular support for Yoon are not expected to affect the court's ruling, as Park was removed from office despite ongoing rallies to keep her in power, fighting candlelight vigils to remove her from power.
In the case of Park, who like Yoon was from the far right, the court voted unanimously to remove him, along with other judges who were considered conservative and Park's appointees.
Yoon is also facing a criminal investigation related to the martial law decision.
If he is indicted, he can ask the Constitutional Court to cancel the 180-day clock on impeachment. The court rejected a similar request in Park's case.
In 2004, former President Roh Moo-hyun, from a leftist party, was accused of failing to maintain the political modesty required of a high-ranking government official.
The court rejected the motion after two months, and Roh served his five-year term.