section_path: Constitutional Court trial/Preparations
section_name: Preparations
paragraph_text: Preparations
  
  The Constitutional Court of Korea has 180 days from the passage of the impeachment motion to review it. At the time of filing the impeachment motion, the court was composed of only six justices; two vacancies were subsequently filled by Choi Sang-mok after nomination by the National Assembly, leaving one vacancy. It normally has nine members and is required by law to have at least seven to begin hearings. In addition, two of the six justices have tenures ending within the mandated review period in April 2025, causing additional concerns over quorum. Debates have arisen in the National Assembly on whether acting president Han Duck-soo is entitled to fill the vacant seats, with the DPK supporting it on the grounds that the president only serves to confirm parliamentary nominees and the PPP opposing it on the grounds that an acting president can only appoint justices only in the event of a presidential vacancy, not a suspension of duties. Yoon's impeachment became the eighth impeachment case in 2024 alone received by the court – the highest number in a single year in South Korean history.
  
  The impeachment motion was submitted to the court on 14 December 2024, and proceedings began on 16 December, with the court calling the case a "top priority". On 16 December 2024, the court announced that trial would proceed with the original six justices then on the bench. The identity of the presiding justice, typically undisclosed, was revealed to be Justice Jeong Hyeong-sik, a Yoon appointee, due to the gravity of the case. Former Korea Communications Commission chair Kim Hong-il was announced as the head of Yoon's legal defense team, while National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair Jung Chung-rae served as the impeachment prosecutor. On 26 December, the National Assembly approved a motion to fill the three vacancies in the Constitutional Court, with the PPP not participating in the confirmation vote. However, Acting President Han Duck-soo refused to appoint the nominees, citing the need for a bipartisan consensus. In response, the DPK filed an impeachment motion against Han that same day, which passed in the plenary vote on 27 December, resulting in Han's duty as acting president being suspended until his acquittal by the Constitutional Court on 24 March 2025. On 31 December, acting president Choi Sang-mok appointed Chung Kyesun and Cho Hanchang to the Constitutional Court as part of efforts to fill up the vacancies. However, he withheld the appointment of a third nominee, Ma Eun-hyuk, which the Constitutional Court ruled was unconstitutional on 27 February 2025.
  
  The first preparatory hearing for the case was held 27 December 2024, with the next hearing occurring on 3 January 2025. The National Assembly was represented in the trial by DPK lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, who is the chair of the assembly's legislation and judiciary committee. Yoon's defense team comprised Bae Bo-yoon, a former Constitutional Court scholar and spokesperson during the impeachment trial of former president Park Geun-hye; Yun Gap-geun, former head of the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office; Bae Jin-han, a former judge and Yoon's classmate at Seoul National University School of Law; and Kim Hong-il, former head of the Korea Communications Commission.