Yoon's upcoming trial schedule

[Anchor]

President Yoon Suk Yeol will face trial for insurrection charges alongside former Minister Kim Yong-hyun and other related individuals in the same court.

Reporter Shin Hyun-wook reports on how the impeachment trial and criminal proceedings against President Yoon will unfold.

[Report]

The Seoul Central District Court has assigned President Yoon Suk Yeol's case to Criminal Division 25.

This is the same court handling the cases of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Police Chief Cho Ji-ho, and former Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won.

Excluding active-duty military personnel indicted in military courts, all cases related to the insurrection charges transferred to the Seoul Central District Court have been assigned to the same division.

Since all defendants are related to emergency martial law and there are overlapping key witnesses, there is a possibility that President Yoon's case may be consolidated with the others.

President Yoon's case is expected to go through a pre-trial preparation session next month and enter the main trial in March.

The maximum detention period is six months, until the end of July, and the first verdict could be reached as early as July.

In the impeachment trial, the current hearing dates are set for twice a week.

If the criminal trial begins, President Yoon will have to appear in court more than three times a week.

Accordingly, there is a possibility that President Yoon's legal team may request a suspension of the impeachment trial procedures based on the Constitutional Court Act.

Article 51 of the Constitutional Court Act stipulates that if a criminal proceeding is underway for reasons similar to those in an impeachment trial, the impeachment trial procedure can be suspended.

President Yoon's side may also request bail to be tried while not in custody, but the court previously denied bail for former Minister Kim Yong-hyun, citing "serious sentencing and concerns about evidence destruction."

This is KBS News, Shin Hyun-wook.