Park, whose term is to end in early 2018, has said she would stand down if parliament arranges a stable power transfer.
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South Korean lawmakers voted 234-56 on Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye. The success of the impeachment bill – on which MPs voted anonymously – means Park will be stripped of her power.
But the offer was unlikely to prevent an impeachment vote on Friday over a corruption scandal that has turned the vast majority of the public against her.
Aides say President Park Geun-hye has replaced one of her advisers just before she was impeached.
Protesters have also been marching to demand she resign. 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.
Under the constitution, Park’s duties were assumed by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on an interim basis until the court rules.
“This result exceeded our expectations”.
Should the court overturn Park’s impeachment, public anger is sure to rise and political alliances to realign, developments that would have a “sizeable effect” on the economy, Chang Jae-chul, an economist for Citibank Korea Inc., wrote in a report.
It is hard to imagine a more absolute fall for a woman who conservatives had long cherished as the self-sacrificing “Daughter of the Nation”, a woman who survived a knife attack a decade ago on the campaign trail that left her face slashed, and who rose above widespread sexism to build a political juggernaut.
Ahead of an impeachment vote later this week, lawmakers took turns grilling a K-pop music director, a fashion designer and almost a dozen others said to be linked to a woman at the heart of a scandal that threatens to bring down South Korea’s president.
Park is accused of colluding with a friend and a former aide, both of whom have been indicted by prosecutors, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.
Their cases often involved family members who were able to leverage links to the president in a society where political influence has traditionally had a very close and unhealthy rapport with business success. Many had long anxious that the “Queen of Elections”, as she was nicknamed in her early political years, had surrounded herself with courtiers: mainly yes-men who had advised her father. The survey by Gallup Korea – which is not affiliated with US -based Gallup, Inc. – showed 81 percent of respondents supported impeachment.
Meanwhile, “The competitiveness of key industries appears to have collapsed”, Kim said. “The government won’t be able to make important policy decisions and the power will shift to the National Assembly”.
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.
The court could dismiss the impeachment move. The hand-over of power prompted the prime minister to order South Korea’s defense minister to put the military on a state of heightened readiness to brace for any potential provocation by North Korea. Ms Choi’s father, Choi Tae-min, a six-times-married shaman cult leader, befriended Ms Park after her mother died during a failed assassination attempt on her father, Park Chung-hee, a former dictator. But they were instead incensed for not been consulted and Park was forced to withdraw her nominee, meaning Hwang has continued in his position. “I will face the verdict of the constitutional court and the investigation of the independent counsel with a calm and serene mind, according to the the process determined by the constitution and the law”.
“This impeachment is a road to salvation for the country and the people”, said Chu Mi-Ae, president of the main opposition Democratic Party.
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This will leave the Seoul government in limbo, perhaps for the entire six months (it only took two with Roh Moo-hyun, however).
