Bablo Shablo
Banned
South Koreas parliament on Friday voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye, holding her responsible for acts of corruption by her confidante Choi Soon-sil and for neglecting her duties as the nations elected leader.
The fate of her presidency now rests with the nine judges of the Constitutional Court who will review whether her alleged wrongdoings warrant a removal. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will step in as acting president while the court deliberates.
The ballot, which started at 3:25 p.m. and was carried out without any commotion on the floor, passed the parliament 234-56. Two abstained and seven votes were invalid.
[TABLE="width: 650, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]A huge screen atop a building in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, shows National Assembly news coverage announcing the passage of the parliamentary impeachment bill against President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
The rare decision to force the incumbent president out of power came amid escalating public protests over a chain of revelations about Park. Allegations against her included that she had for years been under the control of a corrupt civilian friend, and had failed to respond to the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014.
After the approval of the bill was announced, Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun signed the impeachment document and had it delivered to the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee. The committee chairman, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the Saenuri Party, then filed the impeachment motion to the Constitutional Court and delivered a copy to the presidential office.
The official delivery immediately suspended the embattled president from office, leaving it up to the nations Constitutional Court to decide on whether Park should be permanently removed from her post.
During the court deliberations, which could last for up to 180 days, the prime minister is to take charge as acting president.
President Park Geun-hye has not only forgotten her duty as the nations leader and administrative chief but also violated the Constitution and other laws concerning her public duties, said Rep. Kim Kwan-young of the Peoples Party while presenting the opposition-motioned impeachment bill.
Her key charges included leaking confidential documents to her civilian friend Choi, letting her meddle in key state affairs and top personnel decisions, and allowing her to force conglomerates to donate funds or offer benefits to Choi and her associates. She is also suspected of exerting pressure upon media companies that reported on Chois wrongdoings and of failing to issue rescue orders at the time of the Sewol ferry sinking. All these charges constitute violations of presidential obligations as stated by the Constitution, the impeachment proponents said.
The opposition-dominated National Assembly opened a plenary session at 3 p.m. to vote on the motion.
The prime focus prior to the vote was whether or not the number of consenting ballots from the ruling Saenuri Party will make it past 28, the minimum needed to pass the impeachment bill.
Added to independents, the three opposition parties -- the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the runner-up Peoples Party and the progressive minority Justice Party - currently constitute 172 seats in the 300-seat legislature, 28 short of the required two-thirds majority needed to impeach park.
[TABLE="width: 650, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]Civil servants in Seoul watch the live news as the parliament declares the passage of the impeachment bill. (Yonhap)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
While the legislature voted, the presidential office at Cheong Wa Dae kept a resigned silence, predicting a likely passage of the impeachment bill.
Presidential Chief of Staff Han Gwang-ok chaired a meeting of senior secretaries in the morning to discuss measures to handle the situation.
The president was thought to remain in her residence, away from the operation offices and the press office, watching the parliamentary vote on television.
Neither Park nor her spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk made a public appearance or deliver an official remark. This was in stark contrast with President Roh Moo-hyun who, on the eve of his parliamentary impeachment in 2004, had held a press conference to offer his stance.
All we can do is to keep a close watch, said a senior official.
Another official admitted that the most likely scenario is the approval of the bill and that the Blue House is keen on the total number of votes.
The number of impeachment proponents was 234. It was considered that if the number of consenting votes exceeded 220, it would indicate that a number of pro-president figures had abandoned their allegiance.
Rival parties, however, remained divided on whether current Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn should play that role.
Once the impeachment bill is voted through, everything should proceed according to the Constitution, Rep. Hwang Young-cheul said in a radio interview with SBS.
We shall sternly defend the nations constitutional order from those who attempt to paralyze state affairs for the sake of their own political interests in the upcoming presidential election.
Rep. Hwang is a leading figure of the Saenuris nonmainstream group, which has been voicing dissent against the president and advocating impeachment.
He also leveled implicit criticism at opposition parties for refusing to recommend a valid candidate to replace him as prime minister, as the president had earlier suggested.
The opposition claims that Hwang, largely deemed a right-hand man to Park, is unqualified to replace the outgoing president.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as well as the rest of the Cabinet should resign en masse, following the impeachment bills passage, Democratic Party Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae said in a party meeting.
The impeachment motion also includes the publics voted of no confidence in the Cabinet.
Some lawmakers, despite their approval of ousting President Park, also expressed some concern that political and economic insecurity could follow the impeachment.
While we were preoccupied with impeachment, our economy and peoples livelihoods have been on the wane, said Rep. Park Jie-won, floor leader of the Peoples Party.
What matters henceforth is how we respond and offer vision to (address) the peoples confusion and anxiety.
Catching the public attention at the scene were 40 family members of victims of the Sewol ferry disaster, who attended the session upon the invitation of the Democratic Party.
We have realized that truth (concerning the Sewol accident) may never come to light as long as the Park administration is in charge, Yoo Kyeong-keun, the committee head of the Sewol Families for Truth and a Safer Society, told reporters before entering the hall.
Impeachment will mark the start of a new era in which we may reveal the truth about the Sewol and step forward into a safe society.
Their presence was expected to exert pressure upon the Saenuri lawmakers who had reserved their stance over impeachment, flustered between their conventional political allegiance and the publics anti-Park sentiment.
By Bae Hyun-jung ([email protected])
Source
Last edited by a moderator:
