Park ‘to calmly accept impeachment outcome’

South Korean President Park Geun Hye said Tuesday (Dec 6) she would accept the result of a looming and possibly lengthy impeachment process, but defied pressure to resign immediately.

“It’s hard for corporations to turn down a request from the (presidential) Blue House”, said Huh Chang-Soo, chair of the GS Group and head of the Federation of Korean Industries.

She is accused of colluding with a friend and a former aide to pressure big business owners to pay into two foundations set up to back policy initiatives.

If lawmakers do vote Friday for Park to become the country’s first impeached president, the final decision would then go to the Constitutional Court.

The announcement came following a meeting between party leaders and the embattled president.

“There are often requests from various parts of society, including for culture and sports”.

A staff member at the parliament’s VIP restaurant, which requires an invitation from a lawmaker, said he was not aware of any special plans for the group.

“I am so sorry for all South Koreans that I created this national chaos with my carelessness”, Park said in a televised statement after the vote.

Park’s scandal has increased doubts over deep ties between politicians and the country’s top family-controlled businesses, known as chaebol.

South Korea’s President Park faces historic impeachment vote was posted in World of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on December 09, 2016 and was last updated on December 09, 2016.

A poll released on Friday showed her approval rating stood at 5 percent, a slight improvement from a record low 4 percent.

They’re confident that they’ll get what they want Friday, the last day of the current parliamentary session, because dozens of members of Park’s ruling party have said they’ll vote against the woman who was once their standard bearer.

Saenuri Party chief Lee Jung-hyun estimated that President Park seemed to prefer her April resignation to the impeachment, but possibility is high for the president to be stripped of all powers if the bill is passed through the unicameral assembly.

Some researched subway and bus fares in case they are asked to prove their common-touch credentials, while others sent managers on recces to the national assembly – timing the walk to the hearing room and working out routes to avoid the press, Chosun said.

The ruling party had initially insisted that Park be allowed to step down voluntarily, and had proposed a timeline that would see her resign in April – 10 months short of her full presidential term.

In a weepy address to the nation on November 29, Park claimed that she had merely “failed to properly manage” those around her and insisted she had never pursued her own interests or profit while in office.

“None of them would have attended these hearings in normal times”.

Choi, now jailed at a detention center near Seoul, had earlier cited a panic disorder as the reason that she couldn’t testify on Wednesday, according one of the lawmakers at the hearing.