[Yonhap Photo]
On the day of judgment for President Park Geun-hye, the female chief justice of South Korea's constitutional court attracted a public gaze by walking through a crowd of journalists and security guards with her hair in two pink plastic rollers.
Lee Jung-mi, 54, was subjected to camera flashes when she was escorted by security guards out of her black sedan into her office, showing a tense look. Her inadvertent error in hair grooming caught public eyes amid heavy security around the court.
Thousands of riot police, using their buses, have maintained a tight blockade around the court to stop any protesters from crossing the line.
Lee, who head the court's eight-member bench, has been at the center of attention since Park was impeached in parliament on December 9 at the height of anti-government protests that have seen millions of citizens taking to the streets in an unprecedented demonstration of people power.
If the court endorses impeachment, Park would be ousted from the presidential Blue House, paving the way for a presidential election within 60 days. If not, she will be allowed to serve out her five-year-term which ends in February next year.
Park faces charges that she violated the people's sovereignty and the rule of law, abused her power, infringed on the freedom of the press, neglected her duty to protect the right to life, and took part in bribery and other crimes.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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