South Korea Parliament Introduces Bill to Impeach Park; Vote Due Friday

If the vote is upheld by the court, Park will be formally removed from office.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been officially stripped of power after being impeached.

Park also faces allegations that she leaked confidential documents to Choi, who holds no official position.

If Ms. Park is impeached, her executive powers will be suspended immediately and the final decision on removal falls to the country’s nine-member Constitutional Court. She appears to be hoping that the conservative-leaning court will decide in her favor.

Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country’s prime minister, has become interim president.

The group said some of its members were reluctant to vote for the motion, questioning the legitimacy of citing the Sewol ferry issue as grounds for impeachment.

Hwang would take the helm at a time of heightened tension with North Korea.

The push for impeachment has been driven by huge protests that have seen millions take to the streets of Seoul and other cities in recent weeks, demanding that political parties remove Park if she refuses to step down.

The public has been holding rallies outside President Park house for six straight weeks as they ask her to step down. The Constitutional Court restored Roh’s powers about two months later, ruling that his wrongdoings weren’t serious enough to justify his unseating.

The prime minister at the time, Goh Kun, said in a 2013 memoir that he had chose to stay “low key” while he held the reins of power.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says Japan is closely watching developments surrounding the impeachment of South Korea’s president.

He says there will be no change in Japan’s policy toward South Korea.

Choi was officially charged on November 20 and the prosecution said that the president was also involved in the scandal.

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.

As President, Park is now immune from prosecution.

Now, Park will be forced to hand over power to the prime minister as she waits for the nation’s constitutional court to decide the validity of the impeachment vote. During the meeting, Saenuri floor leader Chung Jin-suk called on the opposition parties to end their rallies and impeachment speeches, but they refused. That well surpassed the necessary two-thirds support in the 300-seat assembly.

The South Korean won and shares ended lower on FridaySouth Korean lawmakers vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye as a cautious mood swept financial markets as lawmakers began voting in a motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye over an influence peddling scandal.

President Park Geun-hye of South Korea may have less than 24 hours left to her presidency as the country’s National Assembly scheduled an impeachment vote for Friday on accusations of corruption that have roiled the country for months.

“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 poll frontrunners are United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and ex-lawmaker Moon Jae-in, the former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, who lost the 2012 election to Park by 3 percentage points.