Korea’s parliament sets up presidential impeachment vote

Lawmakers in the three opposition parties – the Minjoo, People’s and Justice party – vowed to resign if the impeachment bill fails to garner enough votes.

The 300-member National Assembly’s 171 opposition and independent lawmakers are all expected to vote for impeachment at a plenary session.

Her lawyers are likely to press the court not to uphold impeachment unless suspicions leveled against the president are proven, experts say. For many South Korean business owners, Park’s impeachment Friday was a moment to celebrate – with a sale. “Park should give up everything and accept the voice of the parliament and the people”, said opposition leader Moon Jae In, a potential candidate for the next presidential election. She would become the first sitting South Korean President to be deposed in the country’s democratic era.

Choi, who now faces criminal charges, was arrested in late October and stands accused of colluding to use her personal influence and political connections to extort businesses into making financial donations.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ahead of an impeachment vote later this week, lawmakers took turns grilling a K-pop music director, a fashion designer and almost a dozen others said to be linked to a woman at the heart of a scandal that threatens to bring down the country’s president.

Aides say President Park Geun-hye has replaced one of her advisers just before she was impeached. At least 29 of them are believed to be planning to vote for the bill, members of a breakaway faction said.

Much of public outrage over this scandal has been driven by Choi’s portrayal in the Korean media as a malevolent shaman who secretly controlled the naïve Park, directing both presidential policies and subordinates without holding an official position in government. Ahead of Friday’s vote, Hwang held a meeting with cabinet members to ensure a smooth transition of power, should the vote go against Park.

She has acknowledged that she allowed her close friend and spiritual advisor, Choi Soon-sil, to interfere in government affairs by seeing confidential documents and reviewing speeches in advance.

However the court overturned the impeachment vote and Mr Roh was reinstated. A Realmeter poll released on Thursday said 78.2 percent of respondents wanted Park to be impeached. She promised to respond “calmly” to the Constitution Court judgment and special investigation.

Under the South Korean constitution, prosecutors can not indict the president on criminal charges – except for insurrection or treason – while they are still in office.

“It’s going to be extremely hard for a candidate from (Park’s) party to win – there is such deep ill will and discontent toward her and her party”.

The bureaucratic machinery that suspended Park and transferred her powers to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn began churning as soon as the impeachment motion passed Friday. A constitutional court will now decide whether to remove from office the country’s first female leader, who’s been mired in a corruption scandal that has paralyzed the country’s political system.

It may also deepen worries about long-term growth prospects and the country’s competitiveness.

Former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, right, speaks during a hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016.