SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENT FACES IMPEACHMENT

Corruption scandal leaves Park Geun- hye isolated, in limbo

South Korean lawmakers on Friday voted to impeach President Park Geunhye, the country’s first female leader who has drawn the anger of millions in her country over an influence- peddling scandal that has left her isolated and loathed.

South Korea’s National Assembly passed a bill on Park’s impeachment by a vote of 236 for and 56 opposed. There were nine invalid votes and abstentions. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo- ahn takes over on an interim basis.

Park was stripped of her power until the country’s Constitutional Court makes a final decision on whether she must permanently step down. The court has up to 180 days to decide. She will be formally removed from office if six of the court’s nine justices support her impeachment. A snap presidential election would then be held.

Prosecutors allege Park colluded with a longtime friend to extort money from companies and to give that confidante extraordinary sway over government decisions. Park has repeatedly apologized in public over the allegations but denies any wrongdoing. Amid the scandal, her public approval ratings have plunged to 4%.

Park offered little fresh reaction to the vote, saying only that she takes the outcome seriously and would prepare for the court’s review. She also offered another apology for her “negligence” in the scandal that could end her four years in office. Her tenure has been marked by increased tensions with North Korea and criticism of her government’s handling of a 2014 ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, the majority of them teenagers on a school trip. Recently, economic trade has stalled.