Yoon Suk Yeol requested to give statements on impeachment trial; summoned again by prosecution

The Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Monday. (Yonhap)

A Constitutional Court justice said Tuesday that the court has requested President Yoon Suk Yeol provide his written answers for his impeachment trial by next week, while the prosecution once again requested his presence for the ongoing investigation into insurrection and abuse of power charges.

Kim Hyung-du, one of the six justices currently serving on the Constitutional Court's bench, told reporters that the court on Monday notified Yoon that it has received the National Assembly's impeachment resolution against him and that he is to submit a written answer to it. Kim added that Yoon was asked to give the answers within seven days.

The president is not legally mandated to submit an answer or attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial, which is slated for Dec.27.

When asked whether the trial would conclude by April, Kim said, "We would have to see about that." April is when the terms for two of the six sitting judges of the Constitutional Court will expire; an impeachment ruling must be backed by the approval of at least six justices of the Constitutional Court.

The bench is currently missing three justices due to a parliamentary feud over the judge nominations, but the Constitutional Court reaffirmed Monday that deliberation of Yoon's impeachment case is possible. The law mandates at least seven justices deliberate an impeachment case, but the clause has been temporarily suspended since November.

The ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea have each submitted their allocated nominations for the three new justices. But the ruling party's floor leader Kwon Seong-dong said Tuesday that Han Duck-soo, the prime minister and acting president, cannot appoint a Constitutional Court justice.

He said while it is within the acting president's power to appoint justices, it should not be done without the sitting president being officially impeached.

In addition to the impeachment trial, Yoon is also facing a criminal investigation for insurrection after declaring emergency martial law on Dec.3. The prosecution on Tuesday once again summoned the president for questioning, an order he did not comply with on Dec. 11.

If Yoon appears before the prosecution, it would mark the first time in history that an incumbent president would be questioned by prosecutors as a suspect in a criminal investigation.