S. Korean chief justice calls for ruling on presidential impeachment before mid-March

Chief justice of South Korea's constitutional court said Wednesday that the ruling on the bill to impeach President Park Geun-hye should be made before the middle of March.

Park Han-chul, the outgoing chief justice, said at the ninth pleading session on the impeachment that Wednesday is the last hearing he can attend as his term terminates on Jan. 31, noting that one more judge will end her tenure on March 13.

The court has up to 180 days to deliberate on the impeachment motion, which was passed at the parliament with an overwhelming majority on Dec. 9.

If six of nine judges uphold the bill, Park will be permanently removed from office. After his retirement, six of the remaining eight justices are required to uphold it for the permanent removal.

The chief justice said if the proceedings are delayed, seven justices must continue the deliberation, which will cause serious concerns. One more judge's retirement by the middle of March will require approvals from six of the seven remaining justices.

He said one more retirement could distort the historic ruling on the impeachment, calling for the final ruling to be made before March 13.

Park's legal team had asked the court to bring in 39 more witnesses to court, adding to the long list of witnesses in what was seen as an attempt to delay the proceedings.

The court adopted the testimonies of suspects and witnesses submitted to prosecutors as valid evidence to speed up the legal proceedings.

The parliamentary committee, which serves as prosecutors in the constitutional court, plans to revise the impeachment motion to focus more on Park's constitutional violation and help gain speed in the court's ruling. Endit