South Korea's Constitutional Court is to hold its first hearing Tuesday on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal involving her and her longtime friend.

Park, who has been suspended from performing her duties till a decision is made by the court, was impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 9 on suspicions she was an accomplice in a string of wrongdoings committed by Choi Soon-sil.

Court President Park Han-chul closed the session nine minutes after it began, citing Park's absence.

"We will do our best to conduct a strict and fair review of the impeachment case," he said.

The first oral argument in the impeachment case has been postponed to the second hearing to be held Thursday. Should Park fail to show up again, he added that the trial will proceed through a proxy.

Park was impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 9 over her alleged involvement in a string of suspected crimes committed by Choi Soon-sil.

(Yonhap)
(Yonhap)

Tuesday's hearing, set to begin at 2 p.m., will be presided over by all nine justices, including Court President Park Han-chul, and look into each argument for and against the impeachment.

The president, who has been asked to attend the session, is widely expected to be absent.

She has denied all of the allegations against her, saying she only received simple advice from Choi and carried out her presidential duties faithfully.

The key issues under review are whether Park violated the people's sovereignty and the rule of law, abused her power, infringed on the freedom of the press, neglected her duty to protect the right to life, and took part in bribery and other crimes.

Should Park be absent, the court can set another date for the hearing and later proceed in her absence through a proxy.

Currently, two additional hearings have been scheduled for Thursday and next Tuesday, during which some of the key suspects in the case have been asked to appear before the court.

They include Choi; An Chong-bum, former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination; and Jeong Ho-seong, former secretary for private presidential affairs.

The court has 180 days to decide whether to unseat or reinstate Park.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is serving as the country's acting president. (Yonhap)

Choi, a daughter of Park's late mentor Choi Tae-min, has been accused of abusing her ties to the president to gain various business and personal favors despite having no position in the government.