S.Korean President faces impeachment vote

Protesters cheer after hearing the news of President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016.

Under the constitution, impeachment requires a two-thirds majority of the 300-member legislature to pass. Park’s Saenuri party now controls 125 seats but the embattled leader can’t even count on the support of all of her party colleagues – factions within the ruling bloc would like to see her removed from power.

Park said on Tuesday she would accept the result of an impeachment vote against her this week but indicated she would not step down now, a top official of her Saenuri Party said.

The nation’s Prime Minister takes over Park’s responsibilities in the interim, though Park had already offered to resign if lawmakers voted against her.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand her resignation since Park said in October that she allowed her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to meddle in government affairs. Once passed, it will then be reviewed by the Constitutional Court, during which Park will be suspended from her duties and the prime minister will take over as acting president. Lawmakers questioned him on wide-ranging issues from why Samsung sponsored the family of President Park Geun-hye’s confidante to Samsung’s treatment of sickened workers. Passage could pacify the anti-Park protests that have been swelling by the week in Seoul. Although the biggest blow will be directed toward the ruling Saenuri Party’s pro-President Park faction, the other ruling party faction and the opposition will also be facing harsh criticism.

“President Park said if corporations support the development of culture and sports, it would be good for the economy and tourism, so (she asked) for generous support” he said.

The corporate titans ran a gauntlet of media and protesters as they entered the National Assembly building that sits along the southern bank of the Han River.

President Park is the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-Hee who ruled the country for 18 years. The Constitutional Court restored Roh’s powers about two months later, ruling that his wrongdoings weren’t serious enough to justify his unseating.

Robert Kelly, a professor of global relations at Pusan National University, said if the situation was not resolved soon, South Korea could see even bigger protests in the comings months.

In indicting Park’s longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, and two former presidential aides last month, state prosecutors said they believed the president was “collusively involved” in criminal activities by the suspects. Her approval rating is at an all-time low of four per cent. Park, 64, came to power in 2013 and her term isn’t set to end until February 2018.

However the leaders of the three main opposition parties have rejected any proposal to extend her time in office.

Hwang seemed on his way out when Park early last month nominated Kim Byong-joon, a former policy adviser for late President Roh, as her new prime minister in an effort to reach out to liberals for bipartisan support amid the scandal.

He also recalled Park pushing for donations during a meeting in July, but said there was no mention of specific foundations.

Samsung – the South’s largest business group – made the biggest contributions of 20 billion won ($17 million) to Choi’s foundations, followed by Hyundai, SK, LG and Lotte.

“But those scandals were centered on relatives – usually brothers and sons – of the presidents, while this one is focused directly on the president herself, causing widespread public anger”, Fifield writes.