Live: Questions over martial law process as President Yoon's impeachment trial nears end

President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial resumes on Tuesday as we speak, with more witnesses to testify at the Constitutional Court.

It's the second-to-last hearing, and the question is whether the Court will add any additional sessions or not.

We have our Oh Soo-young live to bring us the latest.

Q1. Let's begin with what today's hearing will look like.

Sure, Dami. Just moments ago, the Court kicked off Yoon's seventh trial hearing, which will see four witnesses summoned to testify:

Beginning at 10:30am, questions for the former interior minister Lee Sang-min 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.

He's also believed to have received instructions on restricting the press under the rule of the Martial Law Command.

Next, National Security Advisor Shin Won-sik 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 former Third Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Baek Jong-wook, and Secretary-General of the National Election Commission Kim Yong-bin,.., 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.

Q2. The eighth and final hearing is currently scheduled for Thursday but we don't know if or how long it will be extended yet.

That's right. A Constitutional Court official told reporters on Monday that the judicial bench has not yet confirmed whether additional hearings will be held beyond this coming Thursday.

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

This would take around 2 to 3 hours, and given that four witness testimonies are planned for Thursday, it is unlikely that justices will conclude the hearings then.

Experts say more witnesses are likely to be summoned as some of the main testimonies we've heard so far have caused more confusion due to discrepancies with previous statements or conflicting narratives between witnesses.

While the Court has emphasised its commitment to a speedy trial, there's been concern that the back-to-back witness questioning twice a week doesn't allow much time for a thorough review of the testimonies or evidence.

For now, it seems the Court has not yet instructed either side to prepare their final arguments.

We'll see what happens. Thanks for keeping us updated.