South Korea parliament to vote on impeaching President Park

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SEOUL. KAZINFORM - South Korea's opposition-controlled parliament is set to vote on impeaching President Park Geun Hye on Friday over a corruption and abuse-of-power scandal implicating her and her longtime close friend, Kyodo reports.

The motion will be voted on at a plenary session of the National Assembly, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

If two-thirds of lawmakers in the 300-member legislature vote for impeachment, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo Ahn will immediately assume the presidential powers as acting president. The Constitutional Court will then undertake deliberations on the legitimacy of the impeachment, which could take up to six months.

Holding the key to whether the motion passes are about 40 of the ruling Saenuri Party's 128 legislators, who are being dubbed by the media as its anti-Park faction. At least 28 of their votes are needed, provided the 172 opposition and independent members of the assembly all vote in favor.

If the motion is passed, Park will become the second South Korean president to be impeached by the National Assembly.

In 2004, the country's parliament voted to impeach then President Roh Moo Hyun for alleged breach of political neutrality expected of the president by way of the South Korean Constitution.

The Constitutional Court overturned the result, and Roh resumed his role as president.

As an expression of their all-out efforts to bring down the scandal-plagued president, the three opposition parties said Thursday they will resign en masse from the National Assembly if the motion is rejected.

Civic organizations said they plan to hold rallies in front of the National Assembly on Friday in an effort to keep up pressure on lawmakers to vote for impeachment.

On Tuesday, Park said she would accept the result of the impeachment vote and wait for the Constitutional Court's verdict if the motion is passed.
Under the Constitution, a sitting president cannot be prosecuted for less than serious criminal offenses such as insurrection. However, a president can be punished if he or she resigns or is impeached.

The scandal has rocked the nation for over a month, prompting millions of people to take to the streets of Seoul and other cities in recent weeks calling for Park's immediate resignation or impeachment.

The scandal revolves around Park's longtime civilian friend Choi Soon Sil, who was indicted on Nov. 20 on charges of exploiting her influence with the president to gain access to classified documents and extort about 80 billion won (about $69 million) from businesses for two foundations she effectively controlled.

The president was labeled by state prosecutors as a co-conspirator in various criminal charges brought against Choi and two aides, becoming the first president in South Korean history to face a criminal investigation as a primary suspect.

Prosecutors did not press charges against Park because of her presidential immunity from criminal indictment.

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