S. Korea's constitutional court to hold 1st pretrial hearing over Yoon's impeachment Friday

SEOUL -- South Korea's constitutional court said Monday that it will hold the first pretrial hearing over President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment on Friday as scheduled.

A court official told a televised press conference that the first preliminary hearing would be held on Dec 27 as planned as the court deemed the impeachment notice delivered to Yoon, who repeatedly defied the delivery.

The official said the delivery was already effective on Dec 20 when all relevant documents arrived, calling for Yoon to send his written answers to the court by Friday.

The presidential security service had refused to receive the documents related to Yoon's impeachment trial, such as request to appear in court and schedule for pretrial hearings.

The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec 14 and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate it for up to 180 days, during which Yoon's presidential power will be suspended.

Yoon was named by investigative agencies as a suspect on a rebellion charge following his martial law imposition on the night of Dec 3, which was revoked by the National Assembly hours later.