S. Korea Prez polls by May 9
200 officers guard Blue House as impeached President Park prepares to leave
Seoul, March 11: A South Korean presidential election to choose a successor to ousted leader Park Geun-hye would be free and fair and held by May 9 at the latest, the election commission chairman said on Saturday.
The Constitutional Court dismissed Park Geun-hye on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country’s conglomerates. Under the Constitution, polls must be held within 60 days.
The chairman of the National Election Commission, Kim Yongdeok, said in a televised address he was concerned political differences could lead to an “overheated” atmosphere in the run-up to the vote and he called on the public to overcome “conflict” and take part.
“The vote must serve as a chance to overcome divisions and conflicts and achieve national unity and harmony,” he said in a speech aired live on TV.
Meanwhile, all eyes were on Seoul’s presidential Blue House on Saturday as South Koreans awaited expresident Ms Park’s reaction to her impeachment and preparations to move into her private residence.
The main opposition Democratic Party urged Park to accept the court ruling, accusing her of behaving as if she were rejecting the decision reached unanimously by the court’s eight judges.
Newspaper editorials have called for an end to ongoing street protests.
News reports said Ms Park was watching television alone in her private presidential room on Friday when the country’s highest court announced her dismissal live on air.
An incredulous Ms Park immediately phoned her aides to confirm the verdict, the Chosun Ilbo daily said. Her aides told the newspaper she had no immediate plans to issue a statement on the court decision or her future course of action.
“The President was apparently stunned at the ruling. She looked dejected,” an unidentified aide was quoted as saying. “She wants to keep to herself for a while.”
Ms Park will leave the Blue House only after her private house in prosperous southern Seoul is repaired and cleaned to accommodate her and her security detail.
TV footage showed materials being unloaded from a small truck parked outside the two-storey house.
Police said more than 200 officers were deployed around the area.
The court’s verdict upholding her impeachment immediately stripped her of all powers and privileges, except for her security.