Live: Have Prime Minister, police chief testified against Pres. Yoon at Thursday's impeachment trial?

Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.

The 10th hearing of the president's impeachment trial is taking place at the Constitutional Court, which looks to be the last, or next-to-last hearing in the trial.

For more, let's connect to our correspondent Oh Soo-young.

Q1. Today's session involves three key witnesses, and it's still ongoing. Do tell us more.

That's right. The tenth impeachment hearing began at 3 PM, an hour later than initially planned, with three witness examinations beginning with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Han previously said that the President didn't hold a proper Cabinet meeting before declaring martial law on December 3rd.

This has been a major ground for impeachment as the Constitution requires a Cabinet meeting and related procedures to implement martial law.

He reiterated this stance on Thursday.

He said that the Defence Minister had not consulted him regarding martial law before recommending it to the President, and said there were some "procedural abnormalities" compared to a proper Cabinet meeting.

But he stopped short of declaring whether or not it was a legitimate Cabinet meeting, saying that wasn't his call to make but should be determined through investigation and judicial procedures.

The Prime Minister however described how the opposition-led legislatures' unilateral budget cuts and extreme politics have been threatening the country's future industries and democracy.

Q2. Next up was former intelligence official Hong Jang-won who was summoned as a key witness for the National Assembly's side.

That's right. Hong returned to the Court for further questioning by Yoon's legal team.

He continued to assert that the Counterintelligence Commander read out 14 to 16 names to track down and detain under martial law.

Hong and Yoon's lawyers clashed over the veracity of his claim, and the memo he says he wrote and transferred onto a different note by his secretary.

His boss National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong says there appears to have been 5 different memos with alternating details, indicating there has been fabrication on Hong's part.

Hong today notably changed his previous statement that he'd written down the names in the dark outside the NIS Director's residence, and admitted he had been in his office.

President Yoon spoke out saying that Hong had made it seem as though he had directly given Hong orders to aid arrest when he'd simply asked Hong to work closely with the Counterintelligence Commander on finding spies, as they are alumni of the Korea Military Academy.

He said Hong lied when he said he did not recall that part of the conversation.

Also standing witness today is National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho who finally attended after two absences due to illness.

He's told prosecutors that Yoon ordered him to arrest lawmakers on the night martial law was declared,.. and heard from the Counterintelligence Commander 15 names of politicians and judicial figures to detain.

He's undergoing questioning as we speak.

He's mostly said he cannot confirm or answer questions about the orders he received on the night of martial law.

Q3. For now, Thursday is the last hearing date scheduled for the trial. What comes next?

Experts say the Court is likely to add one more session to wrap up the arguments made by each side and hear the President's final statement.

A ruling will likely be made in the first half of March, as in past impeachment trials, the verdict normally took about two weeks to be reached.

Now, President Yoon's lawyers have said they might apply for more witnesses after a day of review, but it's unclear whether the Court would approve, given how they've rejected most of the over thirty candidates, and have emphasized a swift trial process.

Now as the Court continues to push through with the proceedings and shoots down requests by Yoon's team, his lawyers have said they might embark on a "big decision" which they hinted could involve their collective resignation as a show of protest.

I see. Tensions remain high as the impeachment draws to an end.

Thanks for your coverage today.