SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) -- The Constitutional Court will hold its first hearing early next month in the impeachment case filed against Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, legal sources said Monday.
The court notified Lee, his legal representative and the National Assembly earlier in the day that the first hearing on the case will be held at 2 p.m. on April 4, according to the sources.
A month earlier, the National Assembly submitted the impeachment resolution against Minister Lee to the Constitutional Court after passing the motion to hold him accountable for the government's bungled response to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district last year.
Should six or more of the court's nine justices endorse the impeachment, Lee will be fired from office.
The upcoming court hearing is expected to be attended by the legal representatives of both sides to outline major points of dispute between the two parties ahead of the main court proceedings between the petitioner and the defendant.
Lee has been suspended from his job since the motion passed through the National Assembly on Feb. 8.
Source: Yonhap News Agency