South Korea’s ousted Park expelled from own party

SEOUL: Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-Hye’s own political party expelled her yesterday as it seeks to distance itself from the sprawling corruption scandal that led to her impeachment.

The decision had been taken “for the future of our party and the country”, said Hong Joon-Pyo, chairman of the Liberty Korea Party – which has already changed its name from the Saenuri banner under which Park was elected.

Park was impeached by parliament in December after months of mass protests against her over a sprawling corruption scandal, and the constitutional court upheld the decision in March, removing her from office.

She went on criminal trial in May. Her dismissal dealt a huge blow to her party, with some of its lawmakers defecting to back her impeachment, and Hong came a distant second to new President Moon Jae-In in the election to choose her successor.

Liberty Korea, which currently holds 107 seats in the 299-member parliament, is hoping that Park’s expulsion will prompt some lawmakers to return and help it regain its status as the largest party from Moon’s Democrats, who have 121 seats.

Park rose to power in 2012 largely thanks to the popularity of her late strongman father, Park ChungHee, who had spearheaded the South’s stellar economic growth under his 1961-79 military-backed rule.

But the scandal that emerged last year unleashed nationwide fury, even among many of her conservative supporters. — AFP