Formal trials for four key suspects in the September 11 terrorist attacks, which claimed 3,000 lives, are set to begin in June 2028.
This comes 27 years after the terrorist attacks and is more than a year later than January 2027, which US prosecutors had requested for the prompt progression of legal proceedings.
Among the four individuals facing trial is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, known as the mastermind who planned the 9/11 attacks from start to finish.
Mohammed, a former engineer who studied in the US, was a close confidant of Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaeda at the time.
Captured in Pakistan in 2003, two years after the 9/11 attacks, Mohammed was imprisoned in a secret CIA facility for three years before being transferred to the US military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2006.
US prosecutors and the defense team had previously pursued a plea agreement under which Mohammed would plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, but the effort was ultimately halted after facing fierce backlash from the victims' families.
The formal trials will be held at a military commission set up at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Whether statements obtained by the CIA through unlawful torture during the investigation process will be admissible as evidence in court is expected to be the central issue of the trials.
As September 11 approaches, movements are continuing across the US to reflect on and commemorate the meaning of that day, which shocked the entire world.
[Katherine Lavelle / Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University: The terrorists' goal was to divide us and make us doubt our own principles. While we cannot say they won, the patriotism and unity we showed at the time have clearly faded.]
On the 11th local time, 25th-anniversary memorial events are scheduled to be held in New York and across the United States.
(Camera reporting: Lee Hee-hoon | Video editing: Cho Mu-hwan)
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