South Korea's Constitutional Court will start a pre-trial session on Yoon Seok-yuol's impeachment

South Korea's Constitutional Court will hold its first pre-trial session on the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yoon, which was triggered by the emergency martial law, at 2pm local time (1pm Singapore time Friday) on Friday.

In general, the pretrial conference involves lawyers for the plaintiff and the defendant appearing in court to clarify their basic positions, sort out the focus of the dispute, and coordinate the trial schedule.

The Criminal Procedure Law, which applies to impeachment cases, stipulates that pretrial preparations are automatically terminated if the parties fail to appear in court, but it does not apply to cases where there is a reasonable reason to continue the preparatory proceedings. If Yun s side does not appear in court, the Constitutional Court can proceed with the trial if only the National Assembly appears. However, due to the importance of the case, it is difficult for the Constitutional Court to discuss the case in the absence of Yin Xiyue.

Friday's pretrial conference will be open to the public but will not be streamed online to maintain order in the courtroom. It is expected that the Constitutional Court will hold two to three pre-trial conferences by early 2025, after which it will enter the formal trial stage.