The Constitutional Court began its review yesterday of South Korea's first-ever presidential impeachment, starting what could be months of deliberations on whether to unseat the suspended president, Roh Moo-hyun.
The court decided to ask for Roh's testimony at its next meeting on March 30, when the prosecution and defense attorneys will lay out their cases, court spokesman Yang Chul-soo said. Roh does not have to appear in person at the public hearing, but must be represented, Yang said.
The opposition-controlled National Assembly needs at least six of the nine judges to rule in favor of its vote last Friday to impeach Roh. The justices have 180 days to decide.
The justices -- two seated under Roh's government and seven under Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae-jung -- have not commented on the case. Legal experts are divided over the impeachment's constitutionality.
The bench includes three justices selected by the parliament, three by the chief justice and three by former President Kim. Roh was a member of Kim's Cabinet and his Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), before quitting last autumn amid infighting. The MDP was one of the opposition parties that led the impeachment.
Kim Ki-choon, the chief prosecutor in the case, has said the hearing could take several months.
The opposition Grand National Party lawmaker and chairman of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee is leading a team of lawyers arguing that parliament's decision was legal.
Roh has appointed a former adviser on civil affairs, Moon Jae-in, to assemble his defense team.
Late on Wednesday, Moon submitted a 10-page report to the court outlining his team's arguments and calling the case "a historic precedent."
Details of the report were not available.
Parliament voted to impeach Roh for alleged election law violations, corruption scandals and economic incompetence.
The Constitutional Court must now decide if those reasons were sufficient to impeach the president.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
RSS