Opposition Look to Impeach South Korean President Park

Park became the first sitting South Korean president to be investigated by prosecutors for a criminal conspiracy.

According to The Guardian, the Viagra revelation comes as Park grapples with a massive political scandal.

The prosecution indicted Choi, Park’s longtime friend, earlier in the day, on charges including abuse of authority, coercion and attempted fraud.

Two smaller opposition parties have already said they will seek to remove Park. Park is protected from indictment while in office, making her voluntary resignation improbable. Another 100,000 demonstrated against Park in Busan and 40,000 denounced her in Gwangju.

Nevertheless, the president’s spokesperson said that President Park is still committed to resolving the situation through dialogue with the opposition, and her offer for talks at any time is still open.

The president’s term ends in February 2018, and a presidential election is planned for December next year.

Cheong Wa Dae has made no changes in its stance that Park had only received Choi’s advice on her presidential speeches and was involved in projects conducted by the Mir and K-Sports foundations but only within the extent of managing state affairs.

She nominated Kim Byong-joon, a professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University, as his replacement, but the National Assembly has not yet cleared Kim to take the role. Kim took office 16 months ago and Choi joined the presidential aide team late last month.

The prosecutors on Sunday said that Park colluded with her close friend and confidant, Choi Soon-sil, and another two former aides to pressure over 50 companies to donate a total of $65.7 million to two foundations. “While it’s the prevailing view that any impeachment motion can be overturned by the Constitutional Court, I personally think it won’t be that easy for the judges to do so, given the public anger”.

Demonstrators shout slogans and hold candles during an anti-government protest in central Seoul, South Korea, on November 19. “And we can’t expect a fair and thorough investigation by prosecutors”, Park Ji-u, a high school senior, told the media. Among the 300 seats at the National Assembly, the Saenuri Party has 129 (43 percent), the Minjoo Party of Korea has 121 (40.33 percent), the People’s Party 38 (12.67 percent) and the Justice Party 6 (2 percent). Presidents have immunity from criminal lawsuits while in office.

The presidential Blue House had denied the prosecutor’s allegations. As a sitting President, she can not be prosecuted, but prosecutors are to question her.

But more than 30 lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party, who are not loyal to Park, have supported the idea of “initiating” the impeachment process, raising the odds that the motion will cruise through the parliament.

In the political community, a growing number of lawmakers are now moving to impeach the president under established constitutional procedures.