3 die as court ousts Park

S. Korea braces for more rallies

SEOUL, South Korea, March 11, (Agencies): South Korean police on Saturday braced for more violence between opponents and supporters of ousted President Park Geun-hye, who was stripped of her powers by the Constitutional Court over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into a political turmoil.

Three people died and dozens were injured in clashes between police and Park’s supporters after the ruling Friday, according to police, which detained seven protesters for questioning.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was planning to deploy nearly 20,000 officers and hundreds of buses to separate the two crowds, whose passionate rallies have divided the streets near the presidential palace in the past several weekends as the scandal worsened.

The court’s decision capped a stunning fall for the country’s first female leader. Park rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nation’s streets.

The ruling allows possible criminal proceedings against the 65-year-old Park — prosecutors have already named her a criminal suspect — and makes her South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

It also deepens South Korea’s political and security uncertainty as it faces existential threats from North Korea, reported economic retaliation from a China furious about Seoul’s cooperation with the US on an anti-missile system, and questions in Seoul about the new Trump administration’s commitment to the countries’ security alliance.

South Korea must now hold an election within two months to choose Park’s successor. Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys. Kim Yong-deok, the chief of the National Election Commission, said Saturday that the election will be managed “accurately and perfectly” and urged the public to participate in a vote that would “determine the fate of the Republic of Korea,” referring to South Korea’s formal name.

Violating

Park’s “acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust,” Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. “The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye.”

Lee accused Park of colluding with longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort tens of millions of dollars from businesses and letting Choi, a private citizen, meddle in state affairs and receive and look at documents with state secrets. Those allegations were previously made by prosecutors, but Park has refused to undergo any questioning, citing a law that gives a sitting leader immunity from prosecution. It is not clear when prosecutors will try to interview her. Park hasn’t vacated the presidential Blue House yet, as her aides are preparing for her return to her private home in southern Seoul, according to her office. Park has not made a public statement on her removal.

Park’s lawyer, Seo Seok-gu, who had previously compared her impeachment to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, called the verdict a “tragic decision” made under popular pressure and questioned the fairness of what he called a “kangaroo court.”

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis described THAAD as something that had already been decided upon between both nations and which was fully justified by the North Korean threat. He declined to comment on internal politics in Seoul. “Leaders change over time, that’s not new,” Davis told a news conference.

“We made an agreement with

the Republic of Korea that this was a capability that they needed ... This is something that is needed militarily. That agreement was reached and we remain committed to delivering on it.” (RTRS)

Taiwan holds Chinese student:

Taiwan authorities detained a Chinese student on Friday on wanted the court to approve Park’s impeachment. But there have been worries that Park’s ouster would further polarize the country and cause violence.

Sensing history, thousands of people — both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone — gathered around the Constitutional Court building and a huge public square in downtown Seoul.

Some of Park’s supporters reacted with anger after the ruling, shouting and hitting police officers and reporters with plastic flag poles and steel ladders and climbing on police buses. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting head of state, pleaded for peace and urge protesters to move on. Anti-Park protesters celebrated by marching in the streets near the Blue House, carrying flags, signs and an effigy of Park dressed in prison clothes and tied up with rope.

Removal

Police and hospital officials said three people died while protesting Park’s removal. A man in his 70s, believed to be a Park supporter, died after a large speaker that had been mounted on a police truck fell on his head, police said. They are questioning a Park supporter who allegedly knocked off the speaker by stealing a police bus and crashing it into the truck.

Police said that another man in his 70s died early Saturday after collapsing near the court. An official from the nearby Kangbuk Samsung Hospital said another man brought from the pro-Park rally died shortly after receiving CPR at the hospital.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted a slew of high-profile figures over the scandal, including Park’s confidante Choi, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

Meanwhile, opponents of South Korea’s ousted leader, Park Geun-hye rallied in the capital, Seoul, on Saturday to demand that she be arrested, a day after she was thrown out of office over a corruption scandal involving the country’s conglomerates.

Police were out in force with riot shields but there were no reports of trouble.

“Impeachment is not the end. We’ve not dispersed, we’re still going forward, united,” said one anti-Park protester who gave his name as T.H. Kim.

“She’s a citizen now. If she’s done something wrong, she has to be arrested.”

Leading in opinion polls to succeed her is prominent liberal politician, Moon Jae-in, who advocates reconciliation with North Korea.

Relations with China and the United States could dominate the presidential campaign, after South Korea this month began deployment of the US THAAD missile defence system in response to North Korea’s stepped up missile and nuclear tests.

Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul.

Reform of the country’s giant conglomerates, known as “chaebol”, will also be an election issue.

Park was accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group, the country’s largest conglomerate, for government favours.

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday.

He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

suspicion of breaching national security laws, a court official said, in an unusual espionage case involving a Chinese student on the self-ruled island.

No details about the case could be released as it was classified, the official said. China has never renounced the use of force to take back Taiwan, an island it regards as a wayward province. Chinese spy

cases in Taiwan usually involve retired Taiwanese military officers.

Taiwan media identified the man as 29-year-old Zhou Hongxu from China’s Liaoning province, citing his Facebook account.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the Facebook account, which included a growing number of comments being left by visitors accusing Zhou of being a Chinese spy.

“A man named Zhou Hongxu has been detained,” Liao Chienyu, a judge and spokesman for the Taipei District Court, told Reuters. Liao said the named suspect was the same individual being cited in local media reports.

Prosecutors asked that Zhou be taken into custody on suspicion of violating national security laws and the request was approved by the court, Liao said, adding that Zhou could be held for at least two months.

China cut off official communication channels with Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen took office last year to pressure her to concede that the island is a part of China. Her Democratic Progressive Party traditionally favours independence.

Taiwan’s Education Ministry said it was looking into the case. The Mainland Affairs Council, which decides policy toward China, said the island would continue to welcome exchange students from China. (RTRS)