South Korea’s President Removed From Power After Impeachment

Moon Jae-in, a former opposition party leader who lost to Park in the 2012 election, is the front-runner in opinion surveys.

She has already been named a criminal suspect, accused of bribery for offering policy favours to firms that benefited Choi. Public officials who wish to run for president should resign until April 9.

“We’re very glad to see justice being restored in Korea”, Taek Yoon Lee ’18, President of Princeton for North Korean Human Rights, said. Earlier this week, a special prosecutor was named to investigate the charges of corruption.

The country’s first female leader is accused of allowing a close friend to profit from her connections with the presidency, and was impeached in December after weeks of protests aimed at securing her resignation. “South Korea will start anew based on this fresh and incredible experience”.

Some women also found it humbling that one of the highest judges in the country does her own hair instead of hiring a stylist even on such an important day. Although she has apologized to the people of South Korea several times, she has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The court’s verdict upholding her impeachment immediately stripped her of all powers and privileges, except for her security. The country’s prime minister – a Park appointee – will continue to serve as acting president.

January 1, 2017: In a surprise New Year’s meeting with reporters, Park accuses her opponents of framing her.

January 5: The Constitutional Court begins hearing arguments in Park’s trial.

Some of Park’s supporters – many of them elderly – reacted angrily after the ruling, shouting and hitting police officers and reporters with plastic flag poles and steel ladders, and climbing on police buses.

January 16: Choi, Park’s jailed friend, appears in the impeachment trial and denies accusations related to her.

Outside South Korea’s Constitutional Court Friday morning, thousands of South Koreans crammed onto the street to await the ruling. They say she pressured the Samsung Group to make payments of about $37 million to a confidant’s businesses in exchange for help pushing through approval of a controversial merger between two of the tech giant’s affiliates.

Prosecutors have recommended a total of 13 charges against Park including abuse of power, coercion of donations and the sharing of state secrets.

Eight justices of the Constitutional Court voted unanimously to impeach the president for committing acts that violated the Constitution during her time in office.