 "Acting president Han Duck-soo was impeached by the opposition. File image/AP")
Judicial authorities said Monday that the Constitutional Court would begin its first pretrial hearing on Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s impeachment trial on January 13.
According to the authorities, the court has notified the prime minister and the National Assembly’s legal representatives that the first preparation hearing on Han’s impeachment will take place at 4 p.m. on next Monday.
On Dec. 27, less than two weeks after Han assumed the role of acting president following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s own impeachment for his brief martial law installation, the opposition-dominated National Assembly voted to remove Han from office.
Han will not have to attend the hearing, which will include witness and evidence selection as well as other preparation processes. These meetings often occur two or three times before to the start of oral arguments.
Han’s failure to nominate new justices to the Constitutional Court and his alleged role in Yoon’s imposition of martial law have been cited by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea as reasons for his impeachment.
Han’s impeachment has been declared unlawful by the ruling People Power Party, which has petitioned the Constitutional Court for an order to suspend it.