South Korea’s Constitutional Court has announced it will issue its ruling on Friday regarding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to Al Jazeera.
The court will determine whether to permanently remove him from office.
The announcement was made in a statement on Tuesday, with the ruling scheduled for 11:00 am (02:00 GMT). The verdict will be broadcast live. Yoon was impeached by legislators after briefly declaring martial law late last year.
For the impeachment to be upheld, at least six of the court’s eight justices must vote in favor of removing Yoon from office. If the court affirms the impeachment, a presidential election will be held within 60 days. If the impeachment is overturned, Yoon, who has been suspended from his presidential duties since mid-December, will be immediately reinstated.
Yoon, a former top prosecutor, has stated that his martial law decree was intended to raise awareness of the opposition Democratic Party’s alleged obstructionism and sympathetic stance towards North Korea. He rescinded the decree within six hours after the National Assembly voted unanimously to overturn it. While the declaration did not result in violence, it raised concerns about South Korea’s democratic standing and evoked memories of the country’s past under authoritarian rule.
Yoon, who was elected in 2022 without prior political experience, also faces criminal charges of insurrection related to the decree. While several former South Korean leaders have been jailed for crimes after leaving office, Yoon is the first president to be prosecuted while still in office.
A recent Gallup Korea poll indicated that 60 percent of respondents supported Yoon’s removal. Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is considered the frontrunner in a potential snap election, according to opinion polls.
On Wednesday, an appeals court overturned Lee’s 2024 conviction for an election law violation, removing a potential barrier to his candidacy in the next presidential election.
Last week, the Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him as acting president while the court deliberated on Yoon’s case.
