South Korean constitutional court will uphold a motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye before mid-March, considering the retirement of two of the court's nine judges, public call for fast ruling and rapid investigation by the independent counsel, a law expert said on Thursday.
The impeachment bill was passed in the parliament by an overwhelming majority on Dec. 9. To permanently boot Park out, the bill must be upheld by the constitutional court, of which deliberation can last up to 180 days.
"It will be desirable (for the court) to rule (on the impeachment motion) by the end of this month, but the court will come to a conclusion before the middle of March," Lim Jibong, professor at law school of Sogang University who specializes in constitutional law, said in an interview with Xinhua.
The court's chief justice is scheduled to end his tenure on Jan. 31, with another judge set to retire on March 13.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn temporarily assumes presidential power, but the caretaker president is not allowed to appoint new justices of the court, the unique right given to a president.
After mid-March, the professor said, six of the remaining seven judges must rule in favor of the impeachment bill to permanently remove Park from office. It will weaken the persuasiveness of the final ruling and enhance the risk of being rejected.
All the judges appear to be well aware of that and are speeding up legal proceedings. Pleading sessions are set to be held twice a week, indicating the constitutional court focusing solely on this case while laying others aside. The first session was held on Tuesday.
The independent counsel team is gaining speed in its investigation into the presidential scandal as public calls are strong for an immediate resignation of President Park as proven in the past 10 Saturday demonstrations.
According to opinion surveys conducted by local media outlets for the new year, 70 to 80 percent of respondents favored the presidential impeachment.
"If the independent counsel team proves criminal acts, the court will base the proofs on its rapid deliberation. As public opinion on impeachment is clear and consistent, the court will uphold the impeachment motion," said Lim.
Lim said the possibility for the impeachment bill to be rejected is zero as the rejection may lead the constitutional court to be put in danger of being broken up by the general public.
He expected the motion to be unanimously upheld by the court as President Park's violations of five constitution clauses and eight law clauses were already proven in many respects through prosecutors' probes and local media reports.
"It's a matter of time to uphold the impeachment motion" as the constitutional ruling is different from a criminal trial that requires all charges to be proven in detail, the professor said. If one of the 13 violations is proven, Park will be dismissed on disciplinary grounds.
President Park and her legal team have refuted all charges against her, but it will not delay the court's ruling, Lim noted.
The suspended president held the New Year press conference with local journalists on Sunday, actively denying all allegations on her involvement in the scandal.
Lim said the rare press conference just added one more violation of the constitution, which prevents a suspended president from performing any duty, including the press conference as chief executive.
