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Lee Jae-myung (center) and other members of the Democratic Party call for the Constitutional Court to remove Yoon from office after a meeting of their Supreme Council at their sit-in tent near Gyeongbok Palace on March 19, 2025. (pool photo)

The unexpected delay in the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the impeachment case of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has prompted the Democratic Party to ramp up its calls for the court to present a ruling quickly.

With no ruling date announced by the Constitutional Court as of Wednesday, signs of concern have been emerging from the Democratic Party amid predictions that the decision may not come until next week at the earliest.

In a Supreme Council meeting held at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on Wednesday morning, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung declared, “The Dec. 3 martial law declaration has been destructive to the entire country. The root of this entire crisis lies in the continued chaos surrounding state affairs.”

This was the second outdoor meeting of the party’s highest leadership council held by the Democratic Party, after a previous one on March 14. Lee was making his first appearance there Wednesday following a report of an alleged death threat.

Lee wore a bulletproof vest underneath his jacket and appeared with police protection on Wednesday.

In addition to Lee, other members of the Democratic Party leadership at the meeting Wednesday unanimously called on the Constitutional Court to quickly present a ruling dismissing Yoon as president.

Party floor leader Park Chan-dae said, “It’s difficult to imagine very many members of the South Korean public can accept [the impeachment case] taking this long.”

“The case is straightforward, there is ample evidence, the entire public watched what happened [on Dec. 3], and the case is extremely important,” he stressed.

Senior Supreme Council member Kim Min-seok asked, “What reason does the Constitutional Court have for existing if it drags its feet about ruling on a self-coup that trampled on the democratic constitutional government system and fails to act resolutely to bring the public’s suffering and worry to an end?”

Wednesday also marked the eighth day of marches between the National Assembly building and Gwanghwamun to call for Yoon’s swift removal. After attending an evening gathering at Gwanghwamun organized by representatives of civil society, Democratic Party lawmakers held an emergency general meeting at the National Assembly that night, where they had a heated debate over how to respond to the delay in the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

The Democratic Party and four other opposition parties also delivered a letter to the Constitutional Court the same day calling for a swift ruling to remove Yoon as president.

The reason for the party’s increased campaign of pressure on the court stems from growing fears that the indefinite delay in a ruling may mean a greater possibility that Yoon’s impeachment will be overturned.

Some observers are also voicing concerns that the ruling in Yoon’s impeachment case could come later than the sentencing in Lee Jae-myung’s appellate trial on alleged Public Official Election Act violations, which is scheduled to take place on March 26.

Both represent sensitive issues, as they respectively relate to the question of whether an early election will need to be held and how the party will respond to an early election if it happens.

A second-term lawmaker from the greater Seoul area explained, “Reactionaries and conservatives are insisting that even if Yoon’s impeachment is upheld, [the ruling] needs to come after March 26, and in light of that, we cannot rule out the possibility that the Constitutional Court will make a political determination.”

By Ko Han-sol, staff reporter; Goh Gyoung-ju, staff reporter

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