"President Yoon is not present at the Constitutional Court"...The possibility of early closing tomorrow's opening arguments

[Anchor]
The Constitutional Court will hold its first hearing on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol tomorrow afternoon and begin a full-fledged hearing.

However, as President Yoon forewarned his absence, the first argument is expected to end early.

I'm reporter Kim Tae-won.

[Reporter]
The first hearing date of President Yoon's impeachment will be held at the Constitutional Court.

It's been a month since the case was filed on the 14th of last month.

Unlike the preparation date, where only judges Jeong Hyung-sik and Lee Mi-sun attended, all eight judges will attend the first hearing.

In addition, the parties are also obliged to attend in person.

However, President Yoon's side said he could not attend due to concerns about personal safety and mishaps due to attempts to arrest the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, and said he would go out anytime if the problem was resolved.If President

Yoon does not come out, the first argument is likely to end in a short time.

Former President Roh Moo Hyun, who was previously tried for impeachment, said
on the grounds that there was a risk of a political offensive.
[Moon Jae In / Representative of then-President Roh Moo Hyun (last 2004): I don't think (impeachment trial) should be a calm legal field of judgment and should not be turned into a political battlefield.]

Former President Park Geun Hye did not appear on the first hearing date because it was legally possible to proceed without attendance.

[Lee Joong-hwan / Former President Park Geun Hye's representative (last 2017): I don't think he will attend unless there are special circumstances]

As a result, the trial ended in 15 minutes of revision for former President Roh and 9 minutes for former President Park.

From the second date on the 16th, the hearing process is expected to begin in earnest, with both sides making statements about the prosecution without President Yoon.

However, if the National Assembly and the President cannot narrow their differences over the adoption of witnesses or evidence, an additional date may be set and the trial may be delayed.

I'm Kim Taewon of YTN.