South Korea’s Park Geun-hye To Accept Impeachment Vote

On live TV, lawmakers in a hearing room jammed with media first assembled and then sent away about 20 security officers with orders demanding that, Choi Soon-sil, who is accused of using her ties to Park to control government affairs and extort companies, and 10 other witnesses attend the hearing.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye speaks during an address to the nation, at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, 29 November 2016.

Parliament is expected to hold a vote on her on Friday, but even if the opposition wins the two-thirds majority needed for impeachment, the vote must be upheld by the Constitutional Court, a process that could take months.

The opposition feels confident because dozens of members of Park’s ruling party have said they’ll vote to impeach.

November 20: In indicting Choi and Park’s two former aides, state prosecutors say they believe the president was “collusively involved” in criminal activities by the suspects, who allegedly bullied companies into giving tens of millions of dollars to foundations and businesses Choi controlled, and enabled Choi to interfere with state affairs.

The constitutional court will have as long as 180 days to rule on it, and the two-thirds of the nine-judge court must endorse it to formally impeach the scandal-hit president.

The minor opposition People’s Party and the leftist Justice Party urged lawmakers to do everything they can to get the impeachment motion passed.

Huge demonstrations against her have taken place in central Seoul every Saturday for the past six weeks, rallies on a scale not seen since the country’s democratization in 1987. Her approval rating is at a record low of 4 percent. Her resignation would pave the way for a presidential election in 60 days after she stepped down.

Two of Park’s former aides also face criminal charges. This news story is related to Latest/170874-South-Koreas-President-Park-faces-historic-impeachment-vote/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.

While she retains the presidency, Park can not be charged with a criminal offence except insurrection or treason, but she would lose that immunity once she leaves office.

“Since it’s an anonymous vote, you never know until you open the lid”, said Kang Sun-A, a spokeswoman for the main opposition Democratic Party. This is said to be her last-ditched effort to foil an impeachment vote scheduled later this week.

A National Assembly official is to report the motion to a plenary session on Thursday, a formal procedure that can force an impeachment vote within 72 hours. Park has said she hasn’t committed any wrongdoing and blamed her associates for what prosecutors called a scheme to extract tens of millions of dollars from top companies.

The impeachment motion says Park failed to respond adequately to the Sewol sinking, in violation of her constitutional duty to protect the lives of Korean citizens.

The document will be submitted to vote in the National Assembly on Friday.