S. Korea prepares for likely presidential impeachment vote

Even as her prime minister governs in her stead, Park gets to keep living at the presidential Blue House, using her official vehicle and plane, collecting the same monthly salary (about $15,000 reportedly) and receiving round-the-clock security.

The parliamentary session for the vote was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Korea time, with the secret balloting process expected to take about one hour.

So President Park Geun-hye is not done yet, and it could take months before she leaves office.

The National Assembly motion passed by 234 votes to 56, meaning some members of Ms Park’s ruling Saenuri party voted to impeach her. “Our great people have already opened the way”.

If parliament votes for impeachment, Park would not be immediately removed.

The assembly is dominated by opposition parties and independents who want her dismissed – but they need at least 28 more votes from Ms Park’s Saenuri party for the impeachment.

The Hankyoreh reported that Park’s hairdresser was at the presidential Blue House for nearly two of those seven hours. “They see that if the impeachment bill is voted down, the ruling party will suffer an even bigger political blow”.

As legislators arrived at parliament, hundreds of protesters, some of whom had spent the night on the streets after travelling from other cities, rallied in front of the National Assembly’s main gate.

Her approval ratings have plunged to 4% amid the scandal, and opinion polls show that the vast majority of South Koreans support impeachment. The survey by Gallup Korea – which is not affiliated with USA -based Gallup, Inc. – showed 81 percent of respondents supported impeachment. Park’s single, five-year term was originally set to end February 24, 2018.

Citing poor health and the fact that she is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation, Choi Soon-sil, Park’s longtime confidante, defied a summons to appear Wednesday before a National Assembly committee that is investigating the possible involvement of the president and her close associates in an influence peddling scheme to force major Korean corporations to donate more than $65 million to two non-profit foundations.

Park urged the country to unite behind the prime minister and said she would prepare for the court review of the impeachment.

If impeached, Park’s presidential powers will be suspended and the country’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to rule whether to formally unseat her.

She is the daughter of military dictator Park Chung-hee, whose policies are credited with spawning the country’s postwar economic miracle and who was murdered by his intelligence chief in 1979.

Park has publicly apologized over the scandal three times and acknowledged that she received help from Choi in editing her speeches and with unspecified “public relations” matters.

November 29: Park, without providing a timeline, says she will leave office if parliament comes up with a stable power-transfer plan. In 2014, a Japanese journalist reported that Park was with Choi’s ex-husband, who was an aide to Park, while the Sewol was sinking.

Other witnesses included Cha Eun-taek, a music video director who has been charged with using his ties with Choi to win key culture-related projects from government agencies, and Ko Young-tae, who ran a company that made bags and clothes that Park used during overseas trips at the introduction of Choi.