South Korea: the woman at the heart of President Park’s impeachment

Corporate South Korea found itself on trial on Tuesday as the country’s top business leaders were upbraided by lawmakers for their roles in a sprawling corruption scandal that looks set to topple the president.

He said he doesn’t recall any pressure from Park to make donations to Choi.

The drama is the latest step in what appears to be the final days in power for President Park Geun-hye. Prime Minister Hwang, who post is largely ceremonial, will assume interim presidential powers while the court deliberates.

The Constitutional Court’s nine members need to return a two-thirds majority to oust Park.

He added there are about half a dozen serious contenders for the presidency if Park is removed.

Her lawyers are likely to press the court not to uphold impeachment unless suspicions leveled against the president are proven, experts say.

“While retaining a watertight national defense posture, the government will work closely with the global community to thoroughly respond to the North Korean nuclear problem”, Hwang said.

Earlier, the Constructional Court ordered the dissolution of a small leftist party, and the government deported a Korean-American woman it said had praised North Korea in a lecture.

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

The political uncertainty that followed the eruption of Park’s influence-peddling scandal in October had already caused economists to cut their forecasts for the nation’s growth next year.

Two of Park’s former aides face criminal charges relating to the corruption scandal that centers on her confidante Choi Soon-sil.

“She gave the chaebol what they wanted”, Kim Jae-kyun, a 51-year-old factory employee disgruntled over labor and wage reforms that he says have helped big industry at the expense of ordinary workers.

The prime minister’s powers in such situations, however, are not spelled out clearly in the law, leaving the question of what comes next open to interpretation.

South Korea is now the fastest aging society among developed countries, with an ultra-low birth rate.

Since the November 12 rally, politicians from opposition parties have joined protesters on the streets, calling for Park’s ouster. He says Park will refuse questioning by state prosecutors and only cooperate with an independent probe led by a special prosecutor.

In the meantime, however, her powers would be suspended and transferred to her prime minister, leaving her with nothing but the title.

“The government will maintain a watertight national defense posture”, Hwang said, pledging to keep the country safe and prosperous. The signs read “Oppose the impeachment”. The fates of Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, who was also cast aside as Park sought to stem the fallout from the scandal, and Yim Jong-yong, who was named Yoo’s replacement, remain unclear.

Park has not commented publicly on the impeachment vote.

“It’s going to be extremely hard for a candidate from (Park’s) party to win – there is such deep ill will and discontent toward her and her party”.

The National Assembly in Seoul, a day prior to the impeachment.

South Korean lawmakers began an impeachment vote Friday against President Park Geun-hye.

Even before the Choi scandal, however, complaints about her “imperial” leadership style, ineffectiveness in curbing North Korean provocations, attacks on free speech and dissenters, and government mismanagement of rescue operations after a deadly ferry sinking blamed in part on corruption and incompetence had dinged those hopes.

Hours before the vote, anti-Park activists scuffled with police as they tried to drive two tractors up to parliament’s main gate, where more than a 1,000 protesters were gathered.

Ahead of a vote to impeach South Korean President Park Geun-hye, opposition members of parliament sat on the floor and chanted “Impeach” with raised fists.

Following a conditional offer by Park to leave office last week, a group of anti-Park lawmakers in the ruling party called for her to announce by this Wednesday that she will step down voluntarily in April.