Constitutional Court likely to extend Yoon's impeachment trial dates; hearing on justice appointment dispute on Mon.

President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial is scheduled to wrap up this week but it seems highly likely that the case won't wrap up by then.

Meanwhile, on Monday, justices will hold another key hearing on a dispute over whether Acting President Choi Sang-mok should have appointed one more judge to the Constitutional Court bench.

Our Oh Soo-young reports.

The Constitutional Court will hold a hearing on a dispute case regarding Acting President Choi Sang-mok's decision to withhold the appointment of Constitutional Court Justice nominee Ma Eun-hyuk, while appointing two others recommended alongside him.

The case was filed by National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, who claims Choi neglected to follow a parliamentary resolution to appoint three justices in December last year.

Choi, however, had pledged to appoint a third Justice after bipartisan agreement on the candidate.

The court initially planned to deliver its ruling last Monday, but accepted Choi's request for additional hearings.

During the session, the court will hear arguments from both sides regarding whether Speaker Woo had the authority to file the competence dispute case without a plenary session vote.

The question of Ma's appointment has caused a strong political stand-off, as the left-leaning judge would become the ninth member of the judicial bench,.. as it rules on President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment case.

Time is running out on Yoon's impeachment trial, with just two hearings left at the Constitutional Court this week, making an extension likely.

On Tuesday, the Court will hold Yoon's seventh trial hearing, with four witnesses summoned to testify: former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, National Security Advisor Shin Won-sik, former Third Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Baek Jong-wook, 그리고 국가정보원 3차장 백종욱, 중앙선거관리위원회 사무총장 김용빈 등 네 명의 증인이 소환되어 증언할 예정입니다.

Questions for the former interior minister are expected to focus on the meeting of Cabinet members held before the martial law declaration on December 3 last year.

The National Assembly's impeachment panel says the President had bypassed Cabinet procedures before imposing the decree.

The National Security Advisor who served as Defense Minister until September last year, is expected to be grilled over whether there was prior planning.

As both the National Assembly and President Yoon's legal team have requested Lee and Shin as witnesses, the lawyers will directly question and cross-examine each witness twice.

For the National Intelligence Service and Election Commission officials, the questions are expected to focus on election fraud allegations raised by President Yoon as a pretext for declaring martial law.

Yoon previously said the intelligence service found significant issues while inspecting the election commission's electronic voting system.

Thus, he ordered the military to be deployed to its headquarters to conduct a comprehensive review.

The 8th and final hearing is currently scheduled for Thursday.

However, given that four witness testimonies are planned throughout the day, it is unlikely that justices will conclude the hearings then.

In order to officially end the hearings, the court must hear the closing arguments from both legal teams and President Yoon's final statement.

While Press Officer Cheon Jaehyun said Friday that she has not yet heard if the trial will be extended, it has been reported that the Constitutional Court has not yet instructed either side to prepare their final arguments.

Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.