South Korea is set to enter a decisive week of court rulings that could reshape the political landscape.
Verdicts are due for suspended Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, followed by main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung — and possibly for suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol later in the week.
Han will be the first, with the Constitutional Court set to rule on his impeachment at 10 a.m. on Monday.
The prime minister was accused of active involvement in the Dec. 3 martial law crisis, and unlawfully recommending that the president veto a special prosecutor investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee and refusal to appoint Constitutional Court justices, which were all denied by Han in his first and last hearing on Feb. 19.
Some of those in legal circles believe that the court is likely to reject the impeachment of the prime minister, since Han has not been shown to have been involved in Yoon's alleged insurrection, either in in planning or execution, as he learned about the martial law declaration during a Cabinet meeting in which he opposed it.
The verdict on Lee’s appeal against his conviction for election law violations will be delivered on March 26, next Wednesday.
In 2022, Lee was indicted for making false statements during a televised interview as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in December 2021, claiming that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a development corporation official linked to a scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Lee was Seongnam mayor from 2010-2018 and governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021.
Lee also faces allegations of making false claims that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport pressured officials regarding the zoning change of the Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam.
The current trial is an appeal against an initial verdict was delivered in November last year, sentencing Lee to one year in prison, be suspended for two years. Lee has insisted there were errors in the fact-finding process, misinterpretation of the law and unjust sentencing.
If the current verdict is upheld, Lee will lose eligibility to run for any public office for 10 years, barring him from the next presidential race.
Yoon’s impeachment ruling expected late next week
Yoon could also face a verdict by the Constitutional Court on his impeachment next week, though there is a still chance the ruling could be delayed until next month.
As the court has a practice of announcing its ruling date two to three days in advance, it is unlikely that a verdict will be delivered early in the week.
Since the court never made rulings on major cases — such as the impeachment trials of the president and prime minister — on consecutive days, the most likely date for the ruling is Friday.
Another reason is that the nationwide Suneung mock exam, organized by Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is scheduled to take place on March 26. The education office previously decided to close a total of 11 schools nearby the court premises on the day of the impeachment ruling on March 12.
Duksung Girls’ High School, Choongang High School and Daedong Taxation High School, which are holding the mock test, are included in this list.
These considerations make many people to expect the court’s ruling on Yoon’s impeachment case to be announced on March 28, as the rulings on the two previous presidential impeachments — former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and former President Park Geun-hye in 2017 — were announced on a Friday.
The possibility of April ruling still remains when the court chooses not to announce the ruling date next week. But those in legal circles expect the final verdict on Yoon’s case to be delivered no later than April 18 as Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae and Justice Lee Mi-son are set to retire from their posts.
Meanwhile, Yoon could make a public appearance prior to the Constitutional Court's ruling at the Seoul Central District Court as the second pretrial hearing of his criminal trial will be held on March 25.
Yoon might choose not to attend the preparatory hearing as the defendants are not obligated to appear in court.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
