The Constitutional Court announced on the 18th that it will proceed with the 10th hearing of President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial as scheduled on the 20th. Although President Yoon's side requested to postpone the hearing date due to the court's schedule, the court did not accept this.
Moon Hyung-bae, acting head of the Constitutional Court, said shortly after the start of the 9th hearing of President Yoon's impeachment trial at 2 p.m. that, "Regarding the 10th hearing of the (President Yoon's impeachment trial), the court's deliberation results indicate that it will be held at 2 p.m. on the 20th."
Acting Moon noted, "The pre-trial hearing for (President Yoon's criminal trial) will be held at 10 a.m. on the 20th, and if we schedule the impeachment trial at 2 p.m., there is a time gap. During the hearing, we must consider the schedules of all parties, the court, and witnesses. Additionally, the court is conducting hearings four days a week and has requested the execution of a warrant for witness Jo Ji-ho. The 10th hearing will involve questioning the three witnesses requested by President Yoon's side. I ask for your understanding regarding this matter."
Earlier, on the 14th, President Yoon's side submitted a request to the Constitutional Court to change the date of the 10th hearing. On the same day, the first pre-trial hearing for the charges of insurrection against President Yoon was scheduled, and as a hearing for the cancellation of detention was also being conducted, it was challenging for the representatives to respond to the impeachment trial.
However, the Constitutional Court plans to hold the 10th hearing as scheduled at 2 p.m. on the 20th. This hearing will include the questioning of witnesses requested by President Yoon’s side, namely Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, former Deputy Director Hong Jang-won of the National Intelligence Service, and Commissioner Jo Ji-ho of the Korean National Police Agency. Prime Minister Han and Commissioner Jo have been selected as mutual witnesses.