90,000 people flock to South Korea to attend President Yoon's impeachment hearing... 4,500 to 1 competition rate, highest ever

As the impeachment hearing for President Yoon Seok-yeol approaches tomorrow, the number of applications from ordinary citizens to attend the hearing has exceeded 90,000. The current competition rate is 4,500 to 1, a new record high.
According to the Constitutional Court on the 3rd, as of 9 a.m. today, the number of people who applied to attend the impeachment hearing of President Yoon through the Constitutional Court's website was counted at 90,000. The Constitutional Court will be accepting applications until 5 p.m. today.
The number of applicants is expected to increase in the future as more applications are expected to be accepted. The Constitutional Court has set up 20 seats for the general public to observe the impeachment hearing for President Yoon.
The Constitutional Court accepts applications to observe hearings in two ways: online and offline.
For some reasons, applications may only be accepted online depending on the case. The current impeachment declaration was also only accepted online from 4 p.m. on the 1st, but due to the large number of applicants, the waiting list temporarily reached 90,000.
In the history of the Constitutional Court, the trial with the highest competition rate for public attendance was the impeachment trial of former President Park Geun-hye.
For the selection of 24 candidates for President Park Geun-hye's verdict, 19,096 people applied, with a competition ratio of 796 to 1. However, the case with the most applications for online attendance, including oral arguments and oral argument preparation dates, was last year.
This was the first preparatory hearing for the impeachment trial of President Yoon, held on December 27. At that time, 20,264 people applied to select the nine candidates, with the competition ratio being 2,251 to 1.
When President Roh Moo-hyun was announced, 1,278 people applied to select 60 candidates, with a competition ratio of 21.3 to 1. The Constitutional Court will accept applications to observe the hearing until 5 p.m. today and then hold an electronic lottery to select the candidates.
The plan is to send individual messages to the winners to guide them on how to attend the hearing. The Constitutional Court will decide on the impeachment of President Yoon on the 4th. This will be 38 days after the conclusion of arguments on February 25th.
This is the longest-ever presidential impeachment trial. The impeachment trials of former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye took 14 and 11 days, respectively, from the end of arguments to the verdict.
If the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment charges, President Yoon will be removed from office. If it rejects or dismisses the charges, he will immediately return to his duties.
A decision requires the approval of at least six of the eight sitting justices.