The Constitutional Court of Korea on Friday approved President Yoon Suk Yeol’s request to summon Prime Minister Han Duck-soo for the ongoing impeachment trial, adding another extra hearing on Thursday next week.
The 10th hearing will be held on Thursday at 2 p.m.
With the addition of the 10th hearing, the impeachment trial, which was initially expected to conclude by late February or early March, is now projected to stretch beyond mid-March.
The court also decided to resummon Hong Jang-won, former First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, whose remarks came under scrutiny following his superior NIS Director Cho Tae-young’s contradicting testimony on Feb. 13.
Hong already spoke in court on Feb. 4, but Yoon’s legal team raised concerns about the credibility of his testimony and requested that he be summoned again.
Additionally, the court accepted a joint request from Yoon’s legal team and the National Assembly to summon Cho Ji-ho, Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency.
The court’s press officer Cheon Jae-hyun told reporters Friday that justices decided to do so during a meeting held earlier in the morning.
Prime Minister Han will testify Thursday at 2 p.m., followed by ex-NIS Deputy Director Hong at 4 p.m. and Commissioner General Cho at 5:30 p.m.
The court had previously rejected Yoon’s request to summon Han as a witness. However, after strong objections from Yoon’s legal team, the court reversed its decision.
Commissioner General Cho had been approved as a witness but failed to appear on Jan. 16 and Thursday due to health reasons.
Meanwhile, Yoon's legal representatives released a statement Friday requesting the court to reschedule the hearings.
Yoon's legal team cited scheduling conflicts as the reason for the request, as Yoon’s first hearing on insurrection charges at the criminal court and his detention revocation hearing are both scheduled for Thursday at the Seoul Central District Court.
Given that many of Yoon’s impeachment trial lawyers, including Yoon Gap-geun, Seok Dong-hyun and Hwang Kyo-ahn, are also handling his criminal defense, they argued that preparing for both trials simultaneously would compromise his right to a proper defense.
ddd@heraldcorp.com
