One of the nine judges to oversee the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye on Thursday made a remark that could be seen as a hint at the court’s approach to the historic case.

“The Constitutional Court is an institution that exists to uphold the Constitution in the name of the people,” Lee Jin-sung told reporters on his way to the office on Thursday morning.

Lee is among the three justices of the Constitutional Court chosen to lead preparations for the impeachment trial.

President Park, embroiled in a cronyism scandal involving her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, was impeached by the parliament last Friday amid public fury and reproach.

While nearly 8 in 10 South Koreans want her gone, the embattled president is determined to fight for her job and name at the court. She denies all eight criminal charges that state prosecutors investigating her scandal has raised against her.

Right now, Park is exempt from criminal liability as sitting head of state, but she will become subject to, once the top court confirms her impeachment.

The phase that Justice Lee used -- “in the name of the people” -- appears to be a theoretical reference to the Article 1 and Clause 2 of the Korean Constitution: “The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea shall reside in the people and all state authority shall emanate from the people.”

Justices of the Constitutional Court are meeting daily this week, with Lee and two others preparing to set dates for pretrial hearing sessions next week. They are waiting for written statements from two related parties -- the sanctioned president and the National Assembly -- plus the Justice Ministry, in order to get a grip on their key arguments and opinions on the case.

By Korea Herald staff  (khnews@heraldcorp.com)