Constitutional Court to Announce Ruling on Yoon's Impeachment Trial on the 4th at 11 AM... Live Broadcast and Public Attendance Allowed

On the 1st, the Constitutional Court announced that the impeachment ruling on President Yoon Seok-yeol will be delivered at 11 a.m. on Friday, the 4th, in the Constitutional Court's Grand Bench. This comes 111 days after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against President Yoon last year. The Constitutional Court concluded the hearings on this case on February 25 and has been deliberating for over a month since then.

Yonhap News

If the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment and orders President Yoon's removal, a presidential election will be held within 60 days to elect a new president. It is highly likely that the election will take place during the first week of June. If the impeachment is dismissed or rejected, President Yoon will immediately resume his presidential duties. The Constitutional Court also announced that the ruling will be broadcast live by broadcasters and that the public will be allowed to attend the hearing.

On the day of the impeachment ruling, the police plan to create a "vacuum state" within a 100-meter radius around the Constitutional Court in Jaedong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, preventing crowds from approaching to prepare for any emergencies. The police have activated the highest emergency alert and will deploy about 20,000 officers, while drone flights over the Constitutional Court will be prohibited. Barbed wire has already been installed atop the Constitutional Court's fence, and nearby areas have been surrounded by vehicle barricades, with significant preparations underway.

There is also keen interest in how the ruling will be delivered on the day. Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae will preside over the ruling. The impeachment decision document for former President Roh Moo-hyun was 61 pages long, and for former President Park Geun-hye, it was 89 pages. Since President Yoon's case involves more issues and a longer deliberation period than the two former presidents' cases, it is expected that the impeachment decision document will be even longer.

In the case of former President Roh, who returned to office after the impeachment was dismissed, only the majority opinion was made public, while the minority opinion was not disclosed. For former President Park, all eight justices who participated in the hearing unanimously ruled to "remove the respondent President Park Geun-hye."

There are two ways to deliver the ruling. One is to read the conclusion part, or the order (主文), first, which states either "Remove the respondent President Yoon Seok-yeol" or "Dismiss this impeachment petition." The other is to read the reasoning for the ruling in full first and then announce the order at the very end. Usually, the order is read first when there is a split between majority and minority opinions. If all eight justices unanimously agree, the order may also be read first. Previous impeachment rulings for public officials in the current administration before President Yoon followed this method.

However, it is widely anticipated that for the far more significant ruling concerning the "removal of the president," even if unanimous, the court will likely read the entire decision document containing the reasoning first and then announce the final order at the end.

Previously, in the rulings for former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye, the order was read last, and it took about 20 minutes until the "conclusion" was announced. In the March 2017 ruling on former President Park, the court announced "Remove the respondent President Park Geun-hye" about 50 seconds before the end, and in the April 2004 ruling on former President Roh, the court announced "Dismiss this impeachment petition" about 30 seconds before the end. Therefore, if the order is read last, the decision on whether President Yoon will be removed is expected to be known around 11:30 a.m. on the 4th.