Court starts session that will decide South Korea leader’s fate

Protesters shout slogans during a rally calling for the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 9, 2017. South Korean President Park Geun-hye finds out Friday whether a court will remove her from office over a corruption scandal or allow her to complete her term. The letters read “Impeachment.” AP Photo

SEOUL, South Korea—A court has begun a session that will decide the fate of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

The session Friday will include a verdict that will either remove her from office over a corruption scandal or allow her to complete her term.

READ: A look at South Korea’s looming presidential impeachment verdict

If Park is removed, it would mark the first time a South Korean president has been driven from office before the end of their term since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

In anticipation of the ruling, pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who want Park gone began showing up around the Constitutional Court building in downtown Seoul.