The Constitutional Court, which is presiding over the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol, has decided to hold the final debate on the case on the upcoming 25th. In the past impeachment trials of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Roh Moo-hyun, the Constitutional Court's decision regarding impeachment was made within two weeks after the final debate. If it follows the same procedure, the ruling on President Yoon's impeachment may be announced around March 11. Our Constitution stipulates that if a president is removed by impeachment, an election to choose the next president must be held within 60 days.
Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae announced on the 20th that the 10th debate session for President Yoon's impeachment trial concluded, stating, "The next session will be at 2 p.m. on February 25." He added, "On that day, we will proceed with procedures to hear evidence, comprehensive arguments from both sides' representatives, and final statements of the parties involved." The claimant, the National Assembly, is scheduled to argue for 2 hours, and the respondent, President Yoon, will also argue for 2 hours. Following this, the National Assembly's impeachment inquiry commissioner, Jeong Cheong-rae, who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee (Democratic Party member), and President Yoon will make final statements without time limits.
Previously, former President Park Geun-hye was removed after receiving an impeachment ruling just 11 days after conducting 17 debate sessions. Former President Roh Moo-hyun returned to office after receiving a ruling to dismiss the impeachment 14 days after going through 7 debate sessions.
Meanwhile, on this day, the Constitutional Court requested the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to send the complete entry and exit records of former NIS Vice Administrator Hong Jang-won and the CCTV footage from the Vice Administrator's office and annex from 10:30 p.m. until midnight on the day of the emergency martial law. This material was requested to verify the credibility of the statements related to the arrest memo of former Vice Administrator Hong submitted by President Yoon's side.