S. Korean opposition parties agree to impeach President Park

The court would have 180 days to deliberate. South Korean police say they have detained a man suspected of setting fire to the birthplace.

Hours after South Korean President Park Geun-hye offered to step down over a corruption scandal that has left her struggling for political survival, a fire destroyed a sprawling century-old market in her hometown, just blocks from where she was born. All three opposition parties-the Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK, or Democrats), the People’s Party and the Justice Party-are proceeding with the president’s impeachment, backed by members of the anti-Park faction of her ruling conservative Saenuri Party. She has asked Parliament to decide “how-and-when” she should quit.

The speech appeared to convince some from Park’s Saenuri party, creating a roadblock for the opposition which requires a two-thirds majority in the national assembly to pass an impeachment motion. This means navigating a splintered ruling party and the sometimes-conflicting views of various opposition parties.

The three opposition parties and anti-Park independent lawmakers have a total of 172 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly.

The speech, despite its conceding tone, was largely interpreted as Park’s refusal to immediately resign, as well as an attempt to win time by pushing for a constitutional revision, a measure necessary to reduce her five-year term to four years.

Lawmakers from Park’s own party had backed moves to impeach her this Friday, but now want the issue discussed in parliament before holding a vote, likely to be scheduled a week later. It was not too late to push an impeachment vote to December 9, he said.

The special investigative unit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, which has been in charge of the case, will leave its probe to the special prosecutor.

However, Park has reneged previously on promises to cooperate with the current prosecution team investigating the scandal surrounding her and long-time friend Choi Soon-sil. The city of 2.5 million, 240 km (150 miles) southeast of Seoul, is also where her father, assassinated president Park Chung-hee, went to school and was a stronghold of power for South Korea’s premier political family.

Thousands protest in Seoul, South Korea demanding Park Geun-hye’s resignationWhat happens next for President Park? It was the first time South Koreans had heard from their leader since a previous televised public apology on November 4. Saturday marked the fifth weekend that South Koreans have rallied calling for her resignation: Police reports say 260,000 people joined the protest, while organizers estimated the figure could be as high as 1.5 million.

But after her resignation offer on Tuesday anti-Park
MPs gathered and agreed it would be best for her to resign in April, after the installation of a neutral Cabinet that can help ensure a stable power transfer.

A presidential official said that the embattled president appears to have made a decision to leave her fate at the legislature’s discretion last weekend when some 1.5 million people took to the streets in central Seoul to call for her resignation amid opposition parties’ push for her impeachment.