Blue pills in Blue House: S. Korea leader explains Viagra

At Tuesday’s meeting a bill on appointing an independent counsel for a special investigation into the high-profile scandal centered around Choi Soon-sil is expected to be passed and then approved by the president.

“It provided a legal basis for impeachment proceedings, not only her moral and political liabilities”, said Kim Jun-seok, a political science professor at Dongguk University in Seoul.

The scandal centers on Choi Soon-sil, Park’s friend for about 40 years and the daughter of a late cult leader.

Prosecutors on Sunday said Park had played a “collusive role” in Choi’s criminal activities, which included coercing conglomerates into donating tens of millions of dollars to non-profit foundations, allegedly for Choi’s personal gain. The prosecutors named Park as a co-conspirator of various crimes, but could not indict her due to presidential immunity, as guaranteed in the Constitution.

An impeachment motion requires at least half of the parliament to start and needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

That made Park the first South Korean president to become a criminal suspect while in office.

President Park watched the news on TV from her official residence and was briefed by her aides over potential follow-up measures, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

Park’s office said she doesn’t have anything to answer for, and has suggested the probe has been politically motivated.

Non-President Park faction members of the Saenuri Party have demanded all of the party leadership, composed of pro-Park members, immediately step down. Although emboldened by a wave of mass protests, opposition parties have so far refrained from seriously pushing for Park’s impeachment over fears of triggering a backlash from conservative voters and negatively impacting next year’s presidential election. It also retracted previous statements, now saying it will refuse the prosecution’s request to question Park. The counsel, to be recommended by the opposition parties, is expected to begin the investigation next month for a period of up to four months.

Watch the protests going on in South Korea now aiming to force Park to resign.

Half of South Korea’s GDP comes from exports so it is vulnerable to more protectionist USA trade policy pledged by Trump.

Park may think that the court would similarly overturn a vote to impeach her. Of the nine justices of the court, six must support the impeachment.

That’s what happened in 2004 to the liberal president at the time, Roh Moo-hyun.

During the meeting of Minjoo Party lawmakers on November 21, the majority view was that there is no reason to delay bringing a motion of impeachment to a vote since the legal requirements have been satisfied, but party leaders held a different view.

He vowed to take the lead in putting forward the impeachment motion within his party.

It will take a period of much-needed house cleaning and detoxification before South Korean politics can recover.