Minister Park Seong-jae's side requested the Constitutional Court to advance the schedule for his impeachment trial. Minister Park was impeached on Dec. 12 last year, but the court only held the first preparatory hearing for the impeachment case on Feb. 24. The next hearing date was set for March 18. Minister Park has been suspended from duty for over two months since the impeachment motion.
On the 25th, Minister Park's attorney Kim Jae-hoon noted in a statement sent to reporters, "We have applied for the reassignment of the hearing date at the Constitutional Court."
Earlier, the National Assembly impeached Minister Park on Dec. 12 last year, citing reasons including his involvement in decision-making during a Cabinet meeting related to martial law, and having discussions with former Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and others on follow-up measures after the insurrection.
The National Assembly is known to have included in the impeachment motion the reason for the demand for a special investigation law regarding Kim Keon-hee, the spouse of President Yoon Suk-yeol, as well as the detail that the opposition party leader (Lee Jae-myung) was glared at when explaining the reasons for the demand at the National Assembly plenary session on Dec. 7.
Minister Park's side stated, "There is no valid reason to schedule this case's hearing so far back, and there is no reason that would impede the swift decision of the Constitutional Court."
They added, "The National Assembly has neglected the process so far without any special claims or efforts to prove in order to maintain the Minister's suspension from duty." They also mentioned, "On the 19th, we unexpectedly applied for the certification of the evidence record list regarding the insurrection case, which the Constitutional Court accepted."