South Korea’s Park agrees to resign

SEOUL — South Korean President Park Geun-hye will step down in April over an influence-peddling scandal that has shaken Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, Yonhap TV said Tuesday, citing ruling party floor leader Chung Jin-suk.

The agreement with her party comes after opposition lawmakers said they might have enough votes to impeach her in a motion set for a vote on Friday. Her resignation would pave the way for a presidential election in 60 days after she stepped down. If parliament were to impeach her, Ms. Park would be suspended from power unless the move was rejected by the constitutional court.

Ms. Park will wait for the court’s decision if she’s impeached, Yonhap TV said. Ms. Park’s office has yet to confirm the plan.

A resignation offer may be too late to halt momentum for her impeachment. A faction of her party agreed Sunday to support the parliamentary motion regardless of whether she resigns, Chang Je-won, a Saenuri Party lawmaker, said on Facebook. The 29 lawmakers made their decision after witnessing another large protest against Ms. Park on Saturday.

Mr. Chang’s faction would provide the opposition with just enough votes to reach the threshold of 200 required to pass the impeachment motion in the 300-seat National Assembly. More than 170 opposition and independent politicians endorsed the motion filed last week.

The national assembly is slated to vote on the impeachment motion on Friday, with the backing of around 30 Saenuri Party MPs needed to reach the required two-thirds majority.

The ruling party had initially insisted that Ms. Park be allowed to step down voluntarily, and had proposed a timeline that would see her resign in April — 10 months short of her full presidential term.

But a series of massive anti-Park protests — the latest of which saw up to 1.6 million take to the streets of Seoul on Saturday — appeared to have swayed the mood of the party’s anti-Park faction.

“Following rounds of discussion, we’ve concluded that the card of the president leaving her off ice in April has already been rejected by the people,” said a member of the faction, lawmaker Hwang Young-Cheul.

“All preparations have been made that are necessary to ensure the impeachment motion be passed,” Mr. Hwang was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency. According to Mr. Hwang’s count, around 35 Saenuri Party MPs would support the motion which, if adopted, would still require approval by the Constitutional Court — a process that could take up to six months.

Accused of colluding with a close friend, Choi Soon- Sil, who faces embezzlement charges, Ms. Park said last month she would be willing to step down in the face of the weekly mass protests.

But the opposition said Ms. Park’s offer, which put the manner and timing of her resignation in the hands of parliament, was an effort to buy time and avoid impeachment.

Prosecutors say they have evidence that Ms. Park colluded in Ms. Choi’s efforts to coerce South Korean companies to “donate” tens of millions of dollars to foundations she used for personal gain.

Ms. Park has been named as a formal suspect in the investigation, making her the first sitting president to be subject to a criminal probe while in off ice.

While she retains the presidency, Ms. Park cannot be charged with a criminal offence except insurrection or treason, but she would lose that immunity once she leaves office. —