Constitutional Court Could Reach Final Verdict By Mid-May.

The Constitutional Court revealed on April 23 that it will hold the sixth impeachment hearing on April 27 and make a final verdict after having a justices’ discussion.

At the fifth hearing held that day, the court’s president Yun Young-chul said, “We will make a final decision after holding a final hearing in the presence of all members from both sides, each of whom will have thirty minutes to plead their case.”

Accordingly, the Constitutional Court will likely come down to a final ruling on impeachment of the President Roh as early as mid-May after writing out a decision through the final hearing and discussion.

On that day, the Constitutional Court turned down the request for a personal cross-examination of President Roh, which it regarded as improper. Also, it rejected the suspended offer to call five additional witnesses, including one of Mr. Roh’s close aides, Lee Kwang-jae, Sun & Moon President Moon Byung-wook, and former Sun & Moon vice president Kim Sung-rae.

It accepted the offer to examine the prosecutors’ records concerning corruption scandals of Roh’s close aides, and decided to call the Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office to send it relevant documents.

The court held its fifth impeachment hearing on that day as well, investigating former Cheong Wa Dae official Yeo Taik-soo, who was called as a witness in relation to corruption scandals of Roh’s close aides.

Its investigation was focused on Roh’s involvement in illegal fund receipts from Sun & Moon and Lotte Shopping, but Yeo denied Roh’s involvement in corruption.

The court canceled the investigation into Lotte Shopping President Shin Dong-in, who was called as a witness, taking into account that he was not a key witness and he was in poor health. Previously, it had issued a warrant of arrest for Shin, who presented a written excuse for not showing up in court, citing health problems and the possible impact that his testimony may have had on a separate trial which is related to this case.

Sang-Rok Lee myzodan@donga.com