March 27, 2025
Seoul – According to observers, South Korea's Constitutional Court has been considering the suspension of Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment president for more than a month, and has the potential to push his verdict announcement to April.
The eight justices held review meetings almost every day, but always announced the verdict.
Since December 14, the court has also made four unanimous decisions to them.
In a court decision on Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday, five justices voted to impeach him, while one justice voted for him, two judges voted to decide the motion. This is the first ruling in the impropriety case directly related to Yoon's Dec. 3 Martial Arts Declaration.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the court has not yet made any ruling on when it will announce whether it will be removed from office. In the past, courts generally announced the date of issuing the ruling two to three days in advance for safety and preparation reasons.
For the fourth consecutive week, if the court is to submit a judgment this week, this Friday is considered the most likely date.
Initially, the court promised to prioritize Yoon's case on December 16.
However, 40 other constitutional complaints are planned to be filed Thursday, so it remains uncertain whether the court will handle the most important case this Friday.
Based on previous cases and the timeline for the court to announce rulings, the court rarely makes three judgments in a week.
The last time the Constitutional Court issued its verdict for several consecutive days was in 1995.
There are speculations that a ruling could be made in certain districts on April 2 (probably April 3 or 4), as this will continue to lack the ninth-largest judge given the very tight schedule for the two judges of the nine members.
Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-Bae and Justice Lee Mi-son ended their terms on April 18.
In 2017, the improvised ruling against former President Park Geun-Hye appeared three days before the acting chief justice retired.
