Impeached KCC chair to face ruling

[Anchor]

The Constitutional Court will announce its ruling on the impeachment trial of Lee Jin-sook, the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, tomorrow (1.23).

This conclusion comes 174 days after the Chairperson was impeached.

The court's judgment on the legitimacy of the Korea Communications Commission's decision-making under a two-person system is drawing attention.

Reporter Kim Tae-hoon has the story.

[Report]

Lee Jin-sook, the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, was impeached just two days after taking office.

The ruling on this impeachment trial will be delivered tomorrow.

It has been 174 days since the impeachment of the Chairperson.

The Constitutional Court will hold the ruling session for the impeachment trial of Chairperson Lee Jin-sook at 10 AM tomorrow.

This will be the first ruling made by the court since it expanded to an 'eight-member system' with the appointment of additional justices.

[Chun Jae-hyun/Spokesperson of the Constitutional Court/Jan. 20: "The ruling date for Chairperson Lee Jin-sook has been set for Thursday, January 23, 2025, at 10 AM. There will also be rulings on over 40 cases that have not been decided in the past five months."]

The key issue in this impeachment trial is whether the decisions regarding the appointment of directors for public broadcasting by the Korea Communications Commission under a 'two-person system' were lawful.

The prosecution team from the National Assembly and Chairperson Lee's attorneys have been engaged in a back-and-forth arguments during the three hearings held so far.

If the court upholds the impeachment in tomorrow's ruling, Chairperson Lee will be removed from office.

On the other hand, if the court dismisses or rejects the impeachment, Chairperson Lee will return to her duties.

Currently, the Korea Communications Commission has been operating under a one-person system with Vice Chair Kim Tae-kyu acting as the interim chair due to the impeachment of Chairperson Lee.

Therefore, the outcome of the Constitutional Court's ruling on Chairperson Lee will significantly impact the legitimacy of the two-person system of the Korea Communications Commission, as well as the future proceedings of agenda reviews and decisions within the commission.

KBS News, Kim Tae-hoon.