As of 3 p.m. on the 2nd, 71,000 people applied online to attend the National Assembly's impeachment trial verdict session for President Yoon Suk-yeol, resulting in a competition ratio of 3,550 to 1. Although the application deadline is still a day away, it has already set the record for the highest competition rate for public attendees in the impeachment trial verdict sessions of previous presidents.
The Constitutional Court began accepting applications for public attendees to the impeachment trial verdict session for President Yoon at 4 p.m. on the 1st through its website. 20 seats have been allocated for public attendees. Once applications opened, tens of thousands flocked in, and within about 1 hour and 30 minutes, the number of people waiting for access exceeded 57,000.
Applications for public attendance will continue until 5 p.m. on the 3rd. Competition is expected to rise even further. Last year on December 27, during the first preparatory hearing for President Yoon's impeachment trial, 22,264 people applied for 9 public seats, recording a competition ratio of 2,251 to 1.
In the past, during the impeachment trial verdict session for former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004, 1,200 people applied for 60 public seats, resulting in a competition ratio of 20 to 1. During the impeachment trial verdict session for former President Park Geun-hye in 2017, 19,096 people applied for 24 public seats, and the competition ratio was 796 to 1.
Legal circles analyze that the unusually high competition ratio for public attendance at this impeachment trial verdict session for President Yoon is due to factors such as "the possibility that President Yoon may attend the impeachment trial verdict session himself" and "the fierce opposition and support opinions differing from previous impeachment trials."
Neither former Presidents Roh nor Park attended their impeachment trial verdict sessions. On this day, Yoon Gap-geun, a lawyer for President Yoon, responded with "undecided" when asked by ChosunBiz whether President Yoon would directly attend the impeachment trial verdict session.