Amid expectations that the Constitutional Court will rule on whether to unseat or reinstate impeached President Park Geun-hye in early March, a new variable that could shake up the trial has emerged: voice recordings of Choi Soon-sil’s now-estranged associates.

In what appears to be the final shot to turn the impeachment trial to President Park’s favor, her legal representatives plan to request judges to accept some 2,000 audio files as valid evidence.

In the audio files, submitted to the court by the prosecution, Ko Young-tae, a former business associate of Park’s longtime friend Choi, discusses his plan to “dominate” the K-Sports Foundation for profits.

“The best picture I have is we take over everything after setting up a couple of things to explode the whole thing. That’s the picture I am drafting,” he was heard saying in the audio file. “I should be appointed as vice president at the K-Sports Foundation.”

Park’s lawyers claim that the dialogue captures the absurdity of Park’s impeachment, which they earlier said was caused by the scandal in which the president was wrongly framed. They said that Ko held a grudge against Choi and Park after failing to capitalize on the Park-Choi friendship and triggered the scandal through the media.

Park was impeached on Dec. 9 on allegations that she let Choi interfere with state affairs and colluded with Choi for illicit fundraising for the K-Sports and Mir foundations-- both allegedly controlled by Choi.  

President Park herself said in an interview with a right-wing news outlet last month that the scandal had been “orchestrated” in advance to set her up.

Ko, a former director at The Blue-K, Choi’s paper company established allegedly to siphon off donations from the Mir and K-Sports foundations, has denied the claims. In a recent interview with local media, he said the recorded conversation was only part of a “joke.”

But the files could pose a double-edge sword to President Park as they also include content that could indicate Park’s overreliance on Choi in editing presidential speeches, state policies as well as Choi’s meddling in state affairs.

“(The) VIP (believed to be a reference to President Park) cannot do anything without this person (Choi). Even a single decision. A letter, a word in presidential speeches should be revised here, even very late at night,” Ko was heard saying to an acquaintance in one of the audio files.

There is a possibility that Park’s lawyers might ask for additional hearings to examine the evidence and call in witnesses involved in the voice recordings, which would in turn push back the court proceedings.

President Park is also allegedly considering appearing before the court to defend herself in an apparent attempt to change public sentiment, appeal to her core supporters and therefore sway the ruling in her favor to thwart the impeachment.

Park’s defense team said Monday that the Constitutional Court’s ex-Justice Lee Dong-heup had joined it, bringing the number of Park’s lawyers to 15.

It will likely be confirmed whether President Park will appear at court and whether the court will adopt the 2,000 voice recordings as valid evidence for the impeachment trial during the next hearing, scheduled for Tuesday.

Tuesday’s hearing will bring in witnesses including An Bong-geun, one of the close ex-presidential secretaries to President Park, to grill him over the president’s alleged crackdown on press freedom and her whereabouts during the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014.

But as for five of eight witnesses scheduled to testify during the impeachment trial this week, it remains unclear whether they will actually appear.

The Constitutional Court set a de facto ultimatum for both President Park and the parliament to turn in the final summery of their arguments by Feb. 23, which boosts speculation that the ruling will be made before acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi’s term ends on March 13.

President Park has been criticized for delaying the court proceedings, which critics see as working in her favor.

The court now has one of its nine judge seats vacant, following ex-Chief Justice Park Han-chul’s retirement on Jan. 31. The president’s ouster requires the endorsement of at least six of the remaining eight judges. After Lee’s term ends, Park would only need two justices on her side to avoid removal from office.

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