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Constitutional Court’s ruling on Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment trial to be pushed back to April

입력 2025.03.28 18:01

Kim Han-sol, Kang Yeon-ju , Min Seo-young

The Constitutional Court’s ruling on the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to be pushed back to April. As the delay in designating a sentencing date continues, both the ruling and opposition parties are adjusting their strategies. The opposition parties are likely to continue to call for a swift ruling, while also increasing the intensity of their street protests. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has temporarily suspended its street protests and is focusing on shaping public opinion through the media.

Constitutional Court’s ruling on Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment trial to be pushed back to April

“The longer the sentencing is delayed, the more chaos our society will experience,” said National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik in a speech at the National Assembly on March 27, calling on the Constitutional Court judges to “hand down the sentence as quickly as possible.” He added, “Should it become the daily routine of the people to search for articles about the court’s sentencing date? It is now the time for the Constitutional Court, but there is no time for the court without the time of the people."

With the Constitutional Court's sentencing now likely to be pushed back to next month, the opposition, which has been waging a full-scale campaign of hunger strikes, walking marches, and "three steps, one bow" pilgrimages, is considering ways to raise the level of their protests further. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) reportedly held a closed-door meeting at the National Assembly earlier in the day to discuss its response. A lawmaker who attended the meeting said, "All that is left now is a vigil and a three steps, one bow" pilgrimage, and we discussed whether it is right to do this," adding, "Since it is an emergency situation, I think we should do everything we can with civic groups on streets."

Some of the opposition lawmakers going on hunger strikes were taken to the hospital due to deteriorating health. Jung Hye-kyung, a lawmaker from the Progressive Party who has been on a hunger strike for nine days near Gwanghwamun in Seoul, was taken to the hospital earlier in the day. Earlier, DPK lawmakers Min Hyung-bae, Kim Joon-hyuk, Park Soo-hyun and Wi Seong-gon, as well as Kim Kyung-soo, former Governor of South Gyeongsang Province, were hospitalized while on hunger strikes.

The ruling party has suspended its press conferences in front of the Constitutional Court, where it had been calling for the dismissal of President Yoon’s impeachment, stating that efforts should be focused on wildfire response. Instead, the party is shifting its strategy to a media campaign, arguing that the postponement of the ruling until next month increases the likelihood of impeachment being dismissed or rejected. Shin Dong-uk, the PPP senior spokesperson, said in a CBS radio interview, "There is a significant chance that the Constitutional Court will reach a conclusion different from what the DPK expects," adding, "We've heard that there is considerable disagreement over concerns like, ‘What if we find the president guilty of treason, only for it to be overturned in a criminal trial?'"