S. Korea enters crucial week with impeachment vote on Park

Her impeachment, if approved by the parliament, has to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court, which can take as long as 180 days.

Meanwhile, a group of 5,000 South Koreans on Tuesday filed a suit against Park, demanding compensation of about $400 each for the mental suffering she has caused as a result of the scandal.

“As a member of the Saenuri Party, President Park has clearly expressed her intent to accept the party’s decision”, Hur Won-je, Park’s senior secretary for political affairs, told a legislative investigative hearing Monday.

A smaller bench works in Park’s favor because the number of judges needed to uphold impeachment remains at six.

If impeached, Park’s presidential powers will be suspended until the country’s Constitutional Court determines whether to formally unseat her.

“And if the motion is overturned?” You saw the public’s anger in the candlelights.

It is uncertain what the outcome of an impeachment vote would be. If endorsed, President Park will become the first sitting South Korean leader to be impeached in its constitutional history for seven decades.

Park is unlikely to be present.

President Park will not appear before the hearings, after fierce opposition from her ruling conservative party to the idea of her being called.

The motion to impeach was adopted by 234 votes to 56, easily securing the required two-thirds majority in the 300-seat chamber and triggering wild celebrations among hundreds of anti-Park activists gathered outside the National Assembly.

If passed, the nine judges who work from a court building a few blocks from the presidential Blue House will be making a once-in-a-career decision. She has been dejected, she said in one public apology, losing “countless nights” of sleep and at times regretting ever becoming president.

Adding to the move are some ruling party members who are not loyal to the president, or “non-mainstreamers”.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea called on the Saenuri Party to follow the will of the Korean people.

It has consistently denied petitions by conscientious objectors to military conscription, a jailable offense.

The officials said the erectile-dysfunction drug had been bought to treat potential altitude sickness during Park’s tour of various African nations in May.

Park is accused of colluding in Choi’s efforts to strong-arm the companies represented at Tuesday’s hearing into funding two foundations that Choi allegedly used as personal ATMs.

“I think anyone who comes after her will do a better job than Park Geun-hye”, Lee says.

“I am full of anger, but also anxious”, said Ray Kim, an out-of-towner who participated in the Seoul protests for the second consecutive week.

“I am cautious about this since it’s something that was created by the founder chairman and then the current chairman (Lee Kun-hee) but as there are negative perceptions about it, I will abolish it”, he said.