Why the Constitutional Court is taking record time for President Yoon's impeachment verdict

President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment verdict is taking longer than expected.

The Court was initially expected to deliver its ruling today but it seems the deliberation is more complex than what most observers anticipated.

Our correspondent Oh Soo-young has the details.

With no verdict this week, President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial will stretch on past the three-month mark, as the Constitutional Court continues to deliberate on the leader's fate following his December third martial law last year.

The Court typically notifies parties to the trial of the ruling date at least two days in advance.

However, no such notification has been given yet, meaning the decision will not be announced on Friday as widely expected, but by next week at the earliest.

With a hearing scheduled Tuesday for the impeachment trial of Justice Minister Park Sung-jae in the afternoon, it seems likely Yoon's verdict would come later in the week.

"As political and public pressure both for and against Yoon's impeachment become more fervent by the day, particularly after his release from detention, the judicial bench appears to be moving more cautiously to deliver a broadly acceptable decision to a highly polarized society.

More than 2-point-6 million petitions, both supporting and opposing Yoon’s impeachment, have been submitted to the Court."

As Saturday marks 91 days since the National Assembly passed a motion to remove President Yoon from power, Yoon's case will become the longest presidential impeachment trial in South Korea's history.

Former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment ruling took 91 days after the motion was passed, while Roh Moo-hyun’s took 64 days.

"I'd say the longer-than-expected deliberation suggests internal discussions are more complex than anticipated. It seems the grounds for impeachment are clear and it is hard to dispute the President's declaration of martial law was unconstitutional and unlawful but the justices must determine whether the constitutional violations are severe enough to warrant removal from office. There may be justices who argue that it does not meet the threshold for an impeachable offense."

Since the trial hearings wrapped last month, the justices have been holding almost-daily deliberations to review each issue raised by both President Yoon and the National Assembly.

At this stage, they are reportedly still in the process of organizing their views and exchanging opinions.

"They know that this is going to be in the history books. So I think they really want to make sure that all the reasoning is absolutely watertight. I think they are really trying to do their utmost to avoid having a split judgment or even a minority judgment."

The Constitutional Court is also deliberating on the impeachment trial of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, and is reportedly trying to decide the order in which the rulings for Han and President Yoon should be delivered.

Both the National Assembly and Yoon’s legal team have called for a swift ruling from the court.

Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.