S.Korea President Park to hold cabinet meeting after impeachment vote – Yonhap

The Constitutional Court now has up to 180 days to determine whether to formally end Park’s presidency. Only 56 lawmakers in the 300-seat assembly voted against ousting her. Her leadership style and management of the country has also come under fire from the population.

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

He vowed to “run state affairs in a correct and transparent manner”.

“Whether you support or oppose it, all lawmakers and South Korean people who are watching this grave situation unfold must feel so miserable and heavy at heart”, he added.

The protests are the largest in the country since 1987, when South Koreans mobilized against a military junta to achieve direct presidential elections.

Thousands took to the streets to celebrate the news.

Park apologized three times before the impeachment vote, to no avail, and again on Friday.

“I stand here with heavy-hearted sadness”, Hwang said in a televised address. Park denies involvement in Choi’s alleged criminal activities.

An anti-Park faction within the Saenuri party – numbering more than 30 MPs – has repeatedly hedged its options, but now looks set to support the motion, especially after party whips said members could vote according to their conscience.

The impeachment is only the country’s second. Nothing quite like this has ever happened in South Korea before. “But if the court decides to consider all of the violations, then it will have to deliberate on all of them”. All its nine justices were appointed by her or her conservative predecessor and a two-thirds majority is required to confirm her impeachment.

Within 60 days, a new election will be held again nationwide.

What impact will the scandal have on South Korean politics? . “No one knows (who will win) until the last minute”, John Delury, associate professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies.

Opposition lawmakers plan to make public their own votes, and have called on others to do the same, in a move to harness public pressure for a vote in favor of impeachment.

Is Park now the ex-president?

But the government could now find itself hamstrung by the vote, Kim said. -Korean alliance as a lynchpin of regional security. The woman would become known as South Korea’s Rasputin, with unusual and ultimately illegal influence.

Unconfirmed media reports have suggested an astonishing range of theories about Park’s whereabouts, including a romantic liaison, participation in a shamanistic ritual, cosmetic surgery or, most recently, a 90-minute haircut.

Some 25,000 riot police were deployed and buses were used to barricade the streets leading to the Blue House, but the officers were reportedly ordered to avoid confrontations.

The country’s sluggish economic recovery is again slowing. On Tuesday, some activists scuffled with bodyguards of chaebol executives as the leaders of business groups including Samsung and Hyundai walked into parliament to face questioning over whether the conglomerates were involved in the corruption scandal.

A fresh weekly poll of from Gallup Korea showed Ms. Park’s approval rating at 5%, following two weeks at 4%.

President Park Geun-hye speaks at a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday after the passage of a bill to impeach her. Hopes were high that she would boost economic growth and find a way to cow a perennially belligerent North Korea. Moreover, Choi was suspected of pressuring South Korean big corporations and extorting money from them for her non-commercial funds.

South Korea now faces a damaging period of political limbo.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who will assume President Park Geun-hye’s duties following her impeachment, has instructed Defense Minister Han Min Koo to keep a close watch on North Korea and prepare for any crisis.