S. Korean Constitutional Court starts Yoon's impeachment trial process

South Korea's Constitutional Court kicked off a process Saturday to deliberate a parliamentary decision to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol over his botched martial law declaration, reported Xinhua, quoting Yonhap news agency.

Yoon's impeachment resolution was submitted to the Constitutional Court at 6:15 p.m. local time by Jung Chung-rae, chair of the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee, the report said.

Yoon was officially suspended from his duties at 7:24 p.m. local time, the moment the impeachment resolution was delivered to his office, Yonhap said in another report.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will serve as the acting president until the Constitutional Court delivers its ruling. The court now has 180 days to decide whether to approve the parliament's decision, a development that can trigger an early snap presidential election.

Moon Hyung-bae, the acting chief of the Constitutional Court, said he will convene a meeting of judges at 10 a.m. local time Monday, vowing to conduct a "swift and fair" trial.

The court has also decided to pick two judges to oversee an examination of evidence and form a legal review task force consisting of constitutional researchers.