Explainer: South Korea’s Constitutional Court to decide impeached president’s fate

SEOUL – South Korea’s Constitutional Court controls President Yoon Suk Yeol’s fate, after Parliament

impeached him on Dec 14

over his short-lived martial law decree last week.

Here are key issues for South Korea’s road ahead.

What’s next?

Mr Yoon's presidential powers are suspended but he remains in office, retaining his immunity to most charges except for insurrection or treason. Prime Minister

Han Duck-soo takes over as acting president

.

The Constitutional Court must decide within 180 days whether to remove Mr Yoon from office or reject the impeachment and restore his powers. If the court removes him or he resigns, a presidential election must be held within 60 days. The court could hold its first hearings any time after it receives Parliament's impeachment resolution.

Opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, the head of Parliament's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, will lead the case for removing Mr Yoon.

Mr Yoon's legal team has not been announced, but his background as a prosecutor has sparked reports that he could turn to former colleagues or even represent himself.

Impediments to a court ruling?

Under South Korea’s Constitution, six justices must agree in order to oust an impeached president. The nine-member Constitutional Court now has three vacancies, so the current justices would have to vote unanimously to remove Mr Yoon.

The three vacancies are allotted for Parliament to fill, but the opposition and ruling parties in the legislature have yet to agree on judicial appointments.

The main opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in Parliament, is seeking to fill the vacancies, and Acting President Han, despite being named prime minister by Mr Yoon, is known for his work across multiple administrations and is not expected to block any opposition nominees.

Democratic Party spokesperson Jo Seoung-lae said on Dec 11 that Parliament is expected to name justices by the end of the year.

What happens in court?

In South Korea’s only previous presidential removal by impeachment, the court took three months to oust Ms Park Geun-hye in 2017.

This time, the terms of two court justices expire next April, and legal experts predict the court may seek to rule before then to minimise uncertainty.

In the past, academics say, Constitutional Court justices have not voted predictably by political leaning but have decided case by case, based on their interpretation of the Constitution.

Conservative attempts to rally popular support for Mr Yoon are not expected to affect the court’s ruling, as Ms Park was removed from office despite continued conservative rallies to keep her in power, warring with candlelight rallies to remove her from power.

In the case of Ms Park, who was from a conservative party, the court voted unanimously to remove her, including some justices viewed as conservative and two Park appointees.

Mr Yoon also faces criminal investigations related to the martial law decision. If charged, he could ask the Constitutional Court to suspend the 180-day clock on the impeachment ruling.

The court denied a similar request in Ms Park’s case.

In 2004, then President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached on the charge of failing to maintain political neutrality as required of a high public official. The court rejected the motion after about two months, and Mr Roh fulfilled his five-year term. REUTERS