Constitutional Court Again Doesn't Announce Date for President Yoon's Impeachment Ruling... Likely Pushed to Next Week

The Constitutional Court did not announce the date for President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial ruling on the 19th. This has led to observations that the ruling will effectively be postponed until next week.

A Constitutional Court official told multiple media outlets that there would be no announcement regarding the date of President Yoon's impeachment trial ruling today. It was determined that the Court did not notify either the National Assembly or President Yoon's side of the ruling date by 6 PM, when the business day ended.

The justices reportedly held deliberations and discussions today as well, but have not yet reached a conclusion. Since the prevailing view is that the ruling date must be announced by today if the trial is to be concluded this week, it is expected that the ruling will be pushed to next week.

The consensus is that it's unlikely for the Court to notify of the ruling on the day of or just the day before. During former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial in 2017, the Constitutional Court announced the ruling date at around 5 PM on March 8, two days before delivering the ruling at 11 AM on the 10th.

If the Court announces the ruling date on the 20th or 21st, observations suggest the ruling could come early next week; if no announcement is made then either, the ruling is expected around the 26th-28th. Since concluding arguments on the 25th of last month, the Court has been holding deliberations almost daily, reviewing the case for the longest period in its history.

Various speculations are circulating in political and legal circles about the reasons behind the delayed ruling. Both ruling and opposition parties are actively engaged in public opinion campaigns. The Constitutional Court maintains that it cannot disclose anything related to the justices' deliberations.

Hong Min-seong, Hankyung.com reporter mshong@hankyung.com