South Korean lawmakers impeach president
Parliament votes overwhelmingly to oust scandal-tainted Park
South Korea’s National Assembly voted by a huge margin Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye over her role in a corruption and influence-peddling scandal, forcing her to immediately hand over the running of the country to a caretaker prime minister.
But despite the clear condemnation from both politicians and the general public, Park signaled that she would not be standing down but would wait with a “calm and clear mind” while the conservative-leaning Constitutional Court decided whether or not to uphold the impeachment motion.
That means that South Korea could be in for a long period of paralysis. The court now has six months to rule, creating a power vacuum in South Korea at the same time as the United States goes through its own presidential transition.
A total of 234 lawmakers voted in favor of the impeachment motion Friday, well beyond the two-thirds majority, or 200 votes, that proponents of impeachment needed to oust the president. That meant dozens of lawmakers from Park’s conservative Saenuri party crossed the aisle to vote with the 171 opposition and independent lawmakers pushing for impeachment.
People gathered in front of the National Assembly chanted “We won, we won!” after the voting results came out, while others danced and waved South Korean flags.
“I heard grave voices of the people and the National Assembly, and I sincerely hope this chaotic situation will be resolved soon,” Park told a meeting of her Cabinet convened shortly after the impeachment vote. “I sincerely apologize to the people for causing such widespread chaos while our national security situation and the economy are going through a difficult time,” she said, citing everything from bird flu to the challenge the cold winter would pose to the poor.
But the president, who last week said she would stand down if the assembly demanded it, reverted to her previous defiant stance.
“I will respond to the procedure of the Constitutional Court and the special prosecutors’ investigation with a calm and clear mind,” she told her ministers, according to remarks distributed by her office, urging them to get back to work and minimize disruption to the country while the court deliberates.
Meantime, Park’s duties will fall to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, a political independent and former justice minister.
The vote was a landslide for the forces that want to impeach Park. Only 56 lawmakers in the 300-seat assembly voted against ousting her.
The scandal centers on allegations that the famously aloof Park — the country’s first female president and daughter of military strongman Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea in the 1960s and 1970s — took advice from a secret confidante on a wide variety of topics, including North Korean policy and her wardrobe.
Prosecutors said that the confidante, Choi Soonsil, a lifelong friend and daughter of a shadowy cult leader, used that relationship to enrich herself by at least $70 million and gain advantages for her family. Choi has been indicted on charges, including abuse of power and extortion, and is in detention.
Prosecutors have said the president appeared to have been an accomplice and want to question her about her role in the case, but she has refused. She is immune from prosecution while president but could be charged once she leaves office.