Han's impeachment verdict out on March 24, setting stage for Yoon's

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment verdict is expected to follow hard on the heels of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's, which will be out on March 24.

- Wendy Teo

South Korea's Constitutional Court on March 20 announced that it will deliver the verdict on whether to uphold Mr Han's impeachment on that day.

Mr Han was impeached by the National Assembly on Dec 27, 2024, over his alleged involvement in Mr Yoon's ill-fated Dec 3 martial law declaration, which led to the President's own impeachment.

The Prime Minister's impeachment verdict will come just over a month after his trial concluded in a single session on Feb 19.

Observers believe that it will pave the way for the court to deliver the highly anticipated verdict for Mr Yoon's impeachment as early as March 28.

Pundits have been waiting with bated breath over the last two weeks as the court had been widely expected to announce its decision on Mr Yoon's impeachment on March 14, which would have been two weeks after the conclusion of his trial on Feb 25.

The conjecture was based on the previous impeachment cases of the former presidents Park Geunhye in 2017 and Roh Moo-hyun in 2004, when the Constitutional Court had declared their decisions within 14 days.

When March 14 came and went with nary a sound, speculation swirled that the eight-member bench was locked in disagreement over the verdict.

The South Korean Constitution requires at least six judges to agree to uphold the impeachment.

The court's decisions on the previous presidential impeachment cases had been unanimous.

While the impeachments of the two former presidents were "fairly straightforward", Mr Yoon's case is more difficult as it is "riddled with controversies", said Dr Lee Sung-yoon, global fellow at the Washington-based think-tank Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars.