Rep. Kwon Seong-dong, who leads the parliamentary team for President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment trial, said Thursday that a court decision on the sanctioned president is likely to be made in February.

During a parliamentary meeting at the National Assembly, Rep. Kwon, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the National Assembly, said that he is expecting the Constitutional Court to rule on the Dec. 9 parliamentary impeachment of Park earlier than initially expected, as the trial’s witness questioning process could advance faster. 

“The National Assembly formerly requested 22 witnesses for the court hearing, but we cut the number to five, as most of them have been already questioned by the prosecutors,” Kwon said.

On the same day, Kwon told a local media outlet over the phone that “we initially expected the court decision to be around late February to early March, but chances are high that things might proceed faster.”

If the court makes a decision on the motion next month, the upcoming presidential election is set to take place in April, several months earlier than planned, if Park’s impeachment is approved.

Remaining key witnesses to stand in court include the former Minister of Culture Yoo Jin-ryong, Ko Young-tae, a former associate of Choi, and former director of the Choi-controlled K-sports Foundation Jung Hyun-sik.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)