Seoul: South Korea's Constitutional Court formally opened President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial on Tuesday, despite the absence of Park, whose lawyers said she was unlikely to attend any of the proceedings.

The nine-member court has until June to decide whether Park, whose powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted on December 9 to put her on trial her over a corruption scandal, will be reinstated or removed from office.

The court, which had held three preliminary hearings on Park's impeachment, convened in full for the first time on Tuesday, with the intent of inviting her to respond to the National Assembly's charges and answer questions. But she did not appear, and the hearing was adjourned after nine minutes.

A lawyer for the president, Lee Joong-hwan, said after the hearing that Park would make her case through her attorneys. "She won't appear in court unless there is an exceptionally special reason to do so," Lee said.