Court backs president’s impeachment
SOUTH KOREA: South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been impeached, with the Constitutional Court upholding a parliamentary vote to eject her from office for her role in a corruption and influence-peddling scandal.
Elections for a new president must now be held within 60 days, and polls suggest there will be a change in political direction, with progressive candidate Moon Jae-in holding a strong lead over the conservatives who were once loyal to Park.
The case has rocked South Korean society because of the sheer extent of the alleged corruption. Not only is the presidential Blue House implicated, but the chiefs of leading companies like Samsung, a high-profile prosecutor, and the head of the national pension fund.
There have also been accusations of favourable university admissions and extravagant bribes - including a million-dollar horse - which have angered ordinary Koreans.
The court voted yesterday to uphold the impeachment motion against Park, passed by an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly in December, said Lee Jung-mi, the acting chief justice.
The scandal - extraordinary even by the standards of South Korea’s tumultuous democracy revolves around Park and her lifelong friend, Choi Soon-sil, who held no official position but turned out to wield huge influence over the president, much more than her official advisers and ministers.
Choi is accused of extracting bribes from big business Samsung alone is accused of planning to give her US$37 million - in return for using her relationship with Park to ensure favourable treatment for them.
Special prosecutors said in a damning 101-page report released this week that they had found evidence that the president colluded with Choi. Park refused to be questioned by the prosecutors.
Prosecutors have recommended 13 charges against Park. She had immunity from prosecution while she was in office, but has lost that now that she has been removed. - Washington Post