The Constitutional Court added three more hearings until Feb. 22 for the historic impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye, which means the final verdict on the fate of her presidency may be out in March at the earliest. 

The top court decided to bring in eight of the 15 witnesses requested by Park’s lawyers, including Park’s longtime friend Choi Soon-sil and ex-presidential secretary An Chong-bum once again, both of whom are being tried for colluding with Park to extort donations from local firms. 

It, however, dismissed their request to call in heads of local firms including Samsung Group’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won. 

If the trial goes as planned, with no additional hearing added, the ruling on Park will still be made in March possibly before acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi’s term ends on March 13. The presidential election will be held within 60 days, if the court decides to unseat the sanctioned leader. 

“Park’s lawyers asked for a lot of witnesses with an aim to delay the proceedings and the court accepted more than half of them. The court is excessively obsessed with fairness,” Rep. Kwon Seong-dong, who leads the parliamentary impeachment panel. He asked the court to proceed without rescheduling the questioning if witnesses fail to appear as planned. 

“We are very unhappy that the court only accepted eight of 17 witnesses,” Park’s lawyer Lee Joong-hwan said. 

The court has so far held 11 hearings. The latest, held Tuesday, came amid uncertainties over the timeline of the impeachment trial as the key witnesses continue to refuse to appear as scheduled and the court faces an absence of another justice, after its Chief Justice Park Han-chul retired on Jan. 31. 

The former Chief Justice Park, at his retirement ceremony, called for the ruling to be made before Justice Lee steps down, saying a further absence of justices could lead to a “distorted ruling.” President Park’s ouster requires the approval of at least six out of nine judges. 

The president’s lawyers have asked the court to appoint their successors to ensure “fairness” of the trial, applied for a long list of witnesses and even hinted at the possible boycott of the trial if their demands are not met in an apparent attempt to stall the proceedings.  

Prolonging the court proceedings has been seen as the best shot for President Park to rally her core supporters and maintain her status immune from the criminal liability and probe by an Independent Counsel looking into the scandal. 

The counsel team, whose investigation is set to end at the end of this month, said Monday that it “positively” considers asking for an extension of their probe by 30 days to acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. 

President Park will not be able to shun prosecution if she is impeached before the counsel team’s term ends. 

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)