Live from Seoul Central District Court, where Pres. Yoon's criminal trial will take place

With President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial ongoing, he is also facing criminal charges for insurrection.

His legal team is currently making preparations to defend the president in court.

For more we have our Park Kun-woo standing by live.

Kun-woo, what's the latest?

Good evening, Min-jung.

I'm outside Seoul Central District Court where Yoon's criminal trial on charges of insurrection, following his indictment by the prosecution, is set to take place, possibly in March.

We just learned that the panel of judges for the case was decided less than an hour ago.

Yoon has been assigned to Criminal Division 25, the same panel handling the insurrection conspiracy allegations that are being faced by military and police leadership, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and current Head of National Police Agency Cho Ji-ho.

Then, after pretrial preparations in February, the trial will begin possibly in March.

Usually, such preparations for a criminal trial take two to three months, but given that this is an unprecedented trial of a sitting president, there are expectations that it will proceed faster than usual.

Accordingly, Yoon's defense is facing two different trials -the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial and the criminal trial.

This could result in the president undergoing at least three hearings a week, as those for the impeachment will resume their twice-weekly schedule from next week.

2. Now, how has Yoon been preparing for these trials?

President Yoon continued meeting with his defense team even during the Lunar New Year holiday, to discuss trial preparations, though details remain undisclosed.

That came after over a hundred pieces of evidence were submitted to the Constitutional Court on January 26th, which some pundits believe may be a strategy to delay the impeachment trial.

One possible scenario for Yoon and his defense team is to request bail to participate in the trials without detention.

The court could deny the bail request due to concerns about evidence tampering, but could also accept the request with certain conditions such as prohibiting contact with related parties.

Another possibility is requesting the suspension of the impeachment trial.

That's based on a Constitutional Court Act that allows the suspension of such a trial when a criminal trial is also ongoing over the same matter.

3. And I hear that Yoon's senior advisors met the President after regular visits to the Detention Center have been allowed today.

Yes, with visits to the Seoul Detention Center now allowed as of today, five high-ranking officials from the Presidential Office, including the Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk and Director of National Security Shin Won-sik, visited Yoon this morning.

Yoon reportedly said he is doing well in the detention center, noting that it's still a place "where people live."

And he urged the officials not to be discouraged and to do their best in their respective roles.

He also asked them whether the medical system had been functioning properly during the holidays.

As these visits can take place once a day with only a few people allowed, members of the People Power Party are expected to visit Yoon later on.

First lady Kim Keon Hee is reportedly not planning to visit at the moment.

That's all I have for you now.

Back to you, Min-jung.

All right Kun-woo, thank you.

That was our Park Kun-woo reporting live, from the Seoul Central District Court.