Does Korea want to impeach President Yoon?

Tomorrow will be the final day of impeachment trial hearings at the Constitutional Court before the verdict on President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Our political correspondent Kim Do-yeon is here in the studio on what the public thinks and what this could mean.

Do-yeon, first, walk us through polling done on this issue.

Jung-min, as you said the impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court is wrapping up soon, and the decision will be coming out within the next couple of weeks.

Now, the Constitutional Court does not, by any means, have an obligation to listen to public opinion, but the public does have their own opinions.

Let's look at the latest data.

Gallup Korea's poll of 1-thousand-and-4 people from February 11th to 13th showed that while 57-percent of the respondents were in favor of Yoon's impeachment, 38 percent weren't.

This is an increase, if you look at the numbers before this, although it is moving slowly.

Meanwhile, the far right number shows the polls just a week after the declaration of martial law, when 75-percent wanted impeachment while 21 percent were against it.

So, there has been an apparent rise in the number of those against Yoon's impeachment as the trial progressed.

2. Would you break down the numbers? What has changed since the declaration that people seem to have changed their minds?

There could be a number of factors.

But first and foremost, this is what we need to consider.

The impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court is solely based on the Constitution and the legality of the declaration of martial law.

However, that's not something the average citizen can make their own opinion about, and so other factors will influence their answer.

In fact, looking at just the latest data, when those against impeachment were asked the reason for their response, the number one was because they didn't like what the opposition was doing.

So when the polling was done on the 11th through the 13th Yoon had already made 6 appearances at the Constitutional Court possibly using this as a stage as a means to communicate with the public.

And, of course, he made a series of accusations against the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, stating it was making it hard for him and his government to function.

This includes the series of impeachment motions passed by opposition parties' lawmakers in their attempts to put the brakes on the administration's governance.

On the other hand, the number one reason for those in favor of impeachment was that the declaration of martial law was unacceptable.

But all in all is 38 percent a significant number in this case?

An expert says not really.

"The more important thing is that still well over 50 percent agree on impeaching the president. To clarify, if there are nearly 60 percent of people in favor of impeachment, it's okay to certainly think the majority of the nation want the impeachment."

3. But does this mean anything to the judges at the Constitutional Court?

To put it simply it shouldn't.

The Constitutional Court justices will only look at what's written in the books.

However, there is something to consider, if there are different opinions on a case the public will watch closely and there will be some who are not happy.

As this will be the case, then the Constitutional Court will have the burden to be extremely thorough and fair so that when the decision comes out, the public accepts it.

And right now, the nation has been ideologically split in half.

For example, when former impeached President Park Geun-hye was being tried at the Constitutional Court back in 2017, the last poll before the ruling was made had only around 20 percent against impeachment.

And the bench unilaterally approved it.

Now, there could be a split decision at the court, and whatever the result is, either side's supporters could show discontent with the trial process.

Especially for those in support of President Yoon, as the numbers slowly rise, the Court wants to be extra mindful.

Take a listen to an expert on this.

"They know that the public is keenly interested in this case, and they are watching every move of the Constitutional Court very closely. So I think that, as I said, they'll be bending over backward either in allowing more deliberations or selecting the witnesses even though they might not think it is necessary."

All in all, while there are polarized political views it will be important for the nation to accept the decision of the Constitutional Court to avoid further chaos.

Thank you, Do-yeon.