President Yoon's first impeachment trial hearing over in 4 minutes due to absence

We start at the Constitutional Court today where the president's impeachment trial began with the first hearing taking place in his absence.

For more I have Oh Soo-young standing by live at the court.

Soo-young welcome.

Now the first session lasted some four minutes.

Do tell us more.

Good afternoon. Yes, the first trial hearing on the President's impeachment was over in just four minutes, as the Constitutional Court is obliged to adjourn the meeting if the main party is not present at the first hearing.

Take a listen to what Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae said.

"As the respondent is absent, proceedings will not continue today in accordance with Article 52, Paragraph 1 of the Constitutional Court Act."

His absence was largely expected by the Court which already scheduled the next hearing for Thursday.

If Yoon also skips that session, the justices can proceed without him.

Now you'll notice that the number of justices present was eight including Justice Chung Kye-sun who the President's lawyers filed to recuse.

They cited her and her husband's affiliation with the Democratic Party and the National Assembly impeachment panel's chair Kim Yisu.

However, Justice Moon said the whole bench had agreed to reject the recusal request in a meeting earlier today.

Yoon's attorney said the decision was deeply regrettable.

Right and the president's defense team continues to raise objections about the proceedings at court Soo-young ?

Yes, Yoon's lawyers have disputed the speed and the manner in which the Constitutional Court is conducting the trial.

It submitted four requests on Monday including a recusal for Justice Chung Kye-sun, as well as an objection to the first trial hearing, and the scheduling of five hearing dates without consultation.

The Court's acting chief justice refuted that the bench's announcement of trial dates aligns with the Constitutional Court Act.

So it seems the Court is determined to move ahead with the proceedings, while President Yoon's side is aiming to slow it down, as they call for the Court to conduct a "sufficient" trial procedure observing the 180-day trial period stipulated by law.

Following the first hearing, the President's attorney Yoon Gap-geun indicated that the legal team will continue to contest the fairness and legality of the court's procedures.

"The rushed scheduling of hearings is unnecessary. Even if hearings were scheduled through February 4th, there was ample opportunity during today's or the January 16th hearing to consult with and notify the defense counsel. Such omissions cast doubt on the fairness and neutrality of the trial process."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly's impeachment team called for expedited proceedings and also called on the President himself to attend his trial.

"The respondent is expected to continue employing various measures, even after today, in order to hinder the swift and smooth progression of the trial."

Soo-young the second hearing is scheduled for this coming Thursday.

Do we know whether the president will be there?

The full-fledged trial will indeed begin on Thursday but it's unclear whether Yoon will attend and how far the arguments can progress.

During their two pre-trial sessions, President Yoon's lawyers and the National Assembly failed to narrow their differences over the main grounds for impeachment, due to various sticking points.

First, Yoon's team says the National Assembly's panel removing charges of insurrection as a main argument for impeachment makes no sense as the Assembly's motion to remove him from power cited insurrection as a major reason.

They called for another vote for impeachment at the National Assembly without insurrection charges, if they wish to drop it from the impeachment trial.

The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on this matter.

Also, Yoon's team filed an objection to the Court's decision to obtain records from ongoing trials and criminal investigations over the martial law declaration, arguing that it violates the Constitutional Court Act.

On top of the procedural complaints raised by the team observers note that these challenges if accepted by the court, could delay the trial from moving forward on schedule.

I see.

All right Soo-young thank you for the latest on the impeachment trial.