S Korean court to uphold presidential impeachment before mid-March: law expert

"If the independent counsel team proves criminal acts, the court will base the proofs on its rapid deliberation. As public opinion on impeachment is clear and consistent, the court will uphold the impeachment motion," said Lim.

Lim said the possibility for the impeachment bill to be rejected is zero as the rejection may lead the constitutional court to be put in danger of being broken up by the general public.

He expected the motion to be unanimously upheld by the court as President Park's violations of five constitution clauses and eight law clauses were already proven in many respects through prosecutors' probes and local media reports.

"It's a matter of time to uphold the impeachment motion" as the constitutional ruling is different from a criminal trial that requires all charges to be proven in detail, the professor said. If one of the 13 violations is proven, Park will be dismissed on disciplinary grounds.

President Park and her legal team have refuted all charges against her, but it will not delay the court's ruling, Lim noted.

The suspended president held the New Year press conference with local journalists on Sunday, actively denying all allegations on her involvement in the scandal.

Lim said the rare press conference just added one more violation of the constitution, which prevents a suspended president from performing any duty, including the press conference as chief executive.