SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment Friday strips her of power — but not the perks.

Even as her prime minister governs in her stead, Park gets to keep living at the presidential Blue House, using her official car and plane, collecting the same monthly salary (about $15,000 reportedly) and receiving round-the-clock security.

She also holds onto the title “President.”

But with nothing officially to do, it’s uncertain how she’ll spend her days during the up-to-six months the country’s Constitutional Court has to decide whether to accept the impeachment and formally end her presidency.

In 2004, when President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by lawmakers, he spent his time at the Blue House reading books and newspapers and mountain-climbing with journalists, according to South Korean media.

The bureaucratic machinery that suspended Park and transferred her powers to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn began churning as soon as the impeachment motion passed Friday.

National Assembly Speaker Chung Se-kyun ordered the chairman of the assembly’s legislation and judiciary committee to convey the original version of the motion to the Constitutional Court. Upon receiving the motion, the court will begin its deliberations.

Chung also sent parliamentary officials to deliver copies of the impeachment motion and an official document on the motion’s passage to both the Blue House and the Constitutional Court. Technically, the president’s powers are transferred to the prime minister the moment one of the president’s aides receives the papers.

Hwang will handle the president’s duties until the Constitutional Court rules on Park’s fate. If the court removes her, he would continue to serve that role until a presidential election is held; that vote would have to take place within 60 days of Park’s removal. Through it all, his title will remain prime minister.

Park loses her powers as commander-in-chief of South Korea’s 630,000-member military, and her ability to appoint officials, sign treaties with foreign countries and carry out special pardons of inmates. Park also cannot preside over meetings of presidential secretaries.

With Park allowed to stay at the Blue House, Hwang is to govern the country from his Seoul office. </s> South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach President Park Geun-Hye, stripping away her executive powers over a corruption scandal and opening a new period of uncertainty.

The National Assembly immediately transferred Park’s authority to the prime minister, pending a ruling by the constitutional court on whether to ratify the decision and permanently remove the president from office.

A ruling could take up to six months, during which Park would remain in the presidential Blue House — a leader in name only.

The situation leaves South Korea facing an extended stretch of political anxiety and policy paralysis at a time of slowing economic growth, rising unemployment and military tensions with North Korea.

“I am sorry for all South Koreans that I created this national chaos with my carelessness,” Park said in a televised statement after the vote.

“But we should not let our guard down for a minute, given the grave situation we face at home and abroad from our economy to the national defence.

The motion to impeach was adopted by 234 votes to 56, securing the required two-thirds majority in the 300-seat chamber and triggering celebrations among hundreds of anti-Park activists gathered outside the national assembly.

It was a startling fall from grace for a politician who had run for the Blue House as an incorruptible candidate, declaring herself beholden to nobody and “married to the nation”.

After just under four years in power, she now faces the prospect of going down in history as the first democratically-elected South Korean president to be kicked out of office. </s> SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye has offered to step down in April, leaders of her party said Tuesday after meeting with her. 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.

Park appeared to accept that a vote on impeachment is inevitable and said that she is bracing for it, Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of Park's governing party, Saenuri, said in a statement Tuesday after meeting with the president for 55 minutes.

Chung said he told Park the party could not prevent the impeachment vote and that she nodded in response.

Park said last week that she was willing to resign before the end of her term but that she would leave it to the National Assembly to decide the terms, including the date of her departure. Critics saw that offer as an attempt to divide her opponents and stall the push for impeachment.

Members of Saenuri loyal to Park suggested that she resign in April, and it seemed possible that some lawmakers leaning toward impeachment would accept that as a compromise. But a huge rally against the president on Saturday, the latest in a series of enormous weekly demonstrations, appears to have bolstered pro-impeachment sentiment in the National Assembly.

It is uncertain what the outcome of an impeachment vote would be. But news outlets reported Tuesday that the pro-impeachment lawmakers were believed to have the 200 votes necessary to pass the bill in the 300-seat body.

"I have always thought I would accept" the suggestion to resign in April, Chung quoted Park as saying. Leaving office in April would cut Park's term short by 10 months.

According to Chung, Park said that if she were impeached, she would stay "calm and composed" during the next step in the process: waiting for the Constitutional Court to rule on whether her impeachment was warranted.

The court has up to six months to decide. During that period, Park's presidential powers would be suspended, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn would step in as acting president. If the court were to rule against her impeachment, she would immediately return to office. If not, South Korea would hold an election in 60 days to select her successor.

Opposition lawmakers criticized Park on Tuesday for not resigning immediately. "She tries to hang on to the very last," said Youn Kwan-suk, a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party. "We will fulfill the people's will by impeaching her."

Some political analysts say an immediate departure by Park would give the opposition a better chance of winning the presidency, because the 60 days within which an election must be held would not give Saenuri much time to recover from the disgrace.

The government has been paralyzed for weeks over a corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving a longtime friend and confidante of Park, Choi Soon-sil. Choi has been indicted on a charge of extorting large sums from South Korean companies. Prosecutors have said that Park helped her and have identified her as a criminal suspect, a first for a president, though she cannot be indicted while in office.

Park would be the first South Korean president to face impeachment since 2004, when the National Assembly impeached Roh Moo-hyun, the president at the time, for violating election law. Two months later, the Constitutional Court ruled that Roh's offenses were too minor to justify impeachment and restored him to office.

But Park faces much more serious accusations. In an impeachment motion submitted to the National Assembly over the weekend, opposition parties accused Park of conspiring with Choi to force large South Korean businesses, including Hyundai and Samsung, to donate tens of millions of dollars to two foundations Choi controlled. They also accuse her of illegally sharing confidential government documents with Choi, who had no official post. Prosecutors have also accused Park of those offenses. </s> South Korean President Park Geun-hye's powers were suspended at 7:03 p.m. on Friday after parliament voted to impeach her, her office said.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn took over as acting president and told a cabinet meeting he would do his best to ensure stable government continued to function.

South Korea's parliament voted on Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal, suspending her powers.

The country’s Constitutional Court will have up to 180 days to determine whether to formally end Park’s presidency. During that time Park would be suspended as president but not removed, with her duties, including commander in chief of South Korea’s 630,000—member military, temporarily transferred to the prime minister until the court reaches a decision on whether her impeachment is constitutional.

As more than 1,500 protesters massed in front of the National Assembly building, lawmakers inside, some of them taking selfies as they waited, lined up to enter curtained voting rooms, where they recorded their anonymous votes and then emerged and put their folded ballots in boxes.

Park’s confidante, Choi Soon—sil, and two former presidential aides allegedly linked to the scandal have been indicted. Park, who has immunity from prosecution while in office, has refused to meet with prosecutors investigating the scandal.

Park, South Korea’s first female president, would be the country’s second leader to face an impeachment vote. In 2004, lawmakers impeached then President Roh Moo—hyun on allegations of incompetence and election law violations. But the impeachment led to a big public backlash, and the Constitutional Court reinstated Roh two months later. Roh left office in early 2008 after serving out his single five—year term. In 2009, he killed himself amid a high—profile corruption investigation of his family.

Park has publicly apologized over the scandal three times and acknowledged that she received help from Choi in editing her speeches and with unspecified “public relations” matters. But she denies involvement in Choi’s alleged criminal activities.

About 160 lawmakers affiliated with the two main opposition parties said Thursday that they would resign en masse if parliament does not approve Park’s impeachment, but that might be just symbolic because the parliamentary speaker won’t likely approve the resignations out of worries about further political chaos.

Park’s father, Park Chung—hee, ruled the country for 18 years until his 1979 assassination. Choi is a daughter of Choi Tae—min, a purported cult leader who served as a mentor for Park Geun—hye until his death in 1994. Park, whose mother was assassinated in 1974, described Choi Soon—sil as someone “who helped me when I had difficulties” in the past.

Park’s ties with Choi Tae—min, who was mired in corruption scandals, have long dogged her political career. Many here criticize her for maintaining ties with the Choi family and for what’s seen as a lack of transparency on the key decisions she has made.

Park, whose term is to end in early 2018, tried to fend off impeachment by saying she would stand down if parliament arranges a stable power transfer. Her liberal opponents called the overture a stalling tactic to buy time and find ways to survive the scandal. </s> On Friday morning, South Korea's Constitutional Court voted to remove President Park Geun-hye from office, upholding her impeachment by the National Assembly in December. Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi read the unanimous ruling from the eight-member panel on national TV, saying Park committed "acts that violated the Constitution and laws" and that "betrayed the trust of the people and were of the kind that cannot be tolerated for the sake of protecting the Constitution."

The judicial and legislative ouster, a first for South Korea, caps a scandal involving Park, her childhood friend and adult confidante Choi Soon-sil, and some of the country's biggest business executives. Choi, two former presidential aides, and several business executives — notably Samsung acting chairman and heir apparent Lee Jae-yong — have already been indicted in the sprawling scandal. Park, 65, not only lost the presidency Friday but also her legal immunity, opening her up to prosecution for bribery, extortion, and abuse of power. South Korea will hold new elections within 60 days, and the liberal opposition Democratic Party is expected to take power for the first time in a decade. Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn will stay in office in the interim.

Park, South Korea's first female president, is the daughter of former Cold War-era dictator Park Chung-hee, who ruled from 1961 until his assassination in 1979. Much of Park's support came from older, more conservative South Koreans who remember the economic leap forward ushered in by her father. Younger and more liberal Koreans had protested for months calling for Park's ouster amid the growing scandal. As the verdict was read on Friday, Park's critics cheered in the streets while some of her supporters wept. Peter Weber </s> SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korea is entering potentially one of the most momentous weeks in its recent political history, with impeachment looming for President Park Geun-hye as ruling party dissenters align with the opposition in a strengthening effort to force her out.

Anti-Park lawmakers in the ruling Saenuri Party said Monday that about 35-40 of them will vote Friday to impeach Park, who is embroiled in an explosive political scandal. Those votes, when combined with 172 from opposition and anti-Park independent lawmakers, should be enough to impeach her.

If impeached, Park's presidential powers will be suspended until the country's Court determines whether to formally unseat her. The court has up to 180 days to decide.

The decision by the anti-Park ruling party lawmakers came after hundreds of thousands of people turned up for a rally in Seoul on Saturday calling for Park's ouster, the sixth straight weekend of demonstrations. Park made a conditional resignation offer last week, saying she would stand down if parliament works out a stable power transfer, but the opposition described it as a stalling tactic.

The scandal on allegations that Park let her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil manipulate government affairs from the shadows and extort money from businesses. Park has denied most of the allegations, though she acknowledged that she got help from Choi, who has never held a government job, in editing her speeches and with unspecified "public relations" issues.

Prosecutors have indicted Choi and two of Park's ex-aides. Park, who has immunity from prosecution while in office, has refused to meet with prosecutors.

Lawmakers are holding hearings to separately look into the scandal. Heads of businesses allegedly involved in the scandal, including Samsung and Hyundai conglomerates, were scheduled to attend a hearing Tuesday. Choi has refused to testify at her session Wednesday, according to officials at the National Assembly, South Korea's legislature.

A coalition of opposition and independent lawmakers submitted a motion on Park's impeachment over the weekend, accusing her of violating the constitution and undermining democracy. A National Assembly official is to report the motion to a plenary session on Thursday, a formal procedure that can force an impeachment vote within 72 hours.

The opposition wants an impeachment vote on Friday, the final day of the current parliamentary regular session. </s> SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s parliament introduced a bill on Thursday to impeach President Park Geun-hye, setting the stage for a historic vote to oust the embattled leader engulfed in an influence-peddling scandal.

Parliament is expected to vote on Friday in favour of impeachment, although the Constitutional Court must decide whether to uphold the motion, a process that could take up to 180 days.

Opposition parties have said they believe they will get the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill, with support from about 30 members of Park’s conservative Saenuri Party to secure the necessary 200 votes.

Park, 64, said this week she would await the court’s ruling, signalling that the country’s six-weeks-long political crisis is set to continue.

Park, the daughter of a former military ruler, is under intense pressure to resign immediately, with big crowds taking to the streets of the capital, Seoul, every Saturday calling for her ouster.

Her approval rating is at a record low of 4 percent. A Realmeter poll released on Thursday said 78.2 percent of respondents wanted Park to be impeached.

She would be the first democratically elected South Korean president not to serve a full five-year term. Former President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by parliament in 2004, a motion that was overturned by the Constitutional Court which said grounds for impeachment were insufficient.

Park is accused of colluding with a friend and a former aide to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

She has denied wrongdoing but apologised for carelessness in her ties with the friend, Choi Soon-sil.

An impeachment vote must be held within 72 hours of the motion’s introduction, and the speaker of parliament, Chung Sye-kyun, asked for a vote on Friday.

DRAMATIC WEEK

The stakes are high for both pro- and anti-Park factions.

The leaders of the two main opposition parties said their 159 members would all resign if the impeachment motion failed, taking responsibility for their inability to follow through on the demands of the public.

That would then mean by-elections to fill their seats, which could alter the make-up of the unicameral legislature. In April, Park’s Saenuri Party unexpectedly lost its parliamentary majority during elections.

The Friday impeachment vote will cap a dramatic week.

On Tuesday, leaders of the country’s largest conglomerates, including Samsung Group scion Jay Y. Lee, were grilled during a 13-hour hearing in which they denied that donations to two charitable foundations supported by Park and at the centre of the scandal were made in exchange for favourable treatment.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye speaks during an address to the nation, at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, 29 November 2016. REUTERS/Jeon Heon-Kyun/Pool

On Wednesday, former associates of Choi, the president’s friend, testified to the same parliamentary panel that Choi conducted herself in ways that made it clear she was exceptionally close to Park and was influential.

The finance ministry said it was concerned about further risks to the economy from “domestic issues” which could dent consumption and investment at a time when many global uncertainties persist.

Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, led South Korea for 18 years after seizing power in a 1961 military coup. He was murdered by a disgruntled spy chief in 1979. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye is willing to "calmly" accept the outcome if the opposition-controlled parliament votes for her impeachment this week, but prefers to resign on her own terms, lawmakers from her party said Tuesday.

Chung Jin Suk, floor leader of the conservative ruling party, said after an hour-long meeting with Park that she was willing to accept a now-withdrawn proposal by the party for her to voluntarily step down in April to set up a presidential election in June. If lawmakers vote to impeach her, Park said she would make "every available effort" to prepare for a court process that would determine whether she would be formally removed, according to Chung.

The party's chairman, Lee Jung Hyun, who also attended the meeting, said it seemed that Park was hoping lawmakers would accept her resignation rather than push ahead with an attempt to impeach her.

Park has been accused by state prosecutors of helping a close confidante extort money and favors from large companies and manipulate state affairs.

On Saturday, opposition lawmakers registered an impeachment bill for Park to set up a floor vote that could take place as early as Friday. If the bill goes through, Park would be suspended as president but not yet removed. Her duties would be temporarily transferred to the prime minister while the country's Constitutional Court reviews whether her impeachment could be constitutionally justified.

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. However, they changed their stance after millions of people rallied across the country over the weekend calling for Park's removal. The ruling party lawmakers said Monday that about 35-40 of them will vote on Friday to impeach Park regardless of whether she promises to quit.

Park said she was ready to "calmly move ahead for the state and the people and to see what happens with the Constitutional Court" if lawmakers vote to impeach her, Chung said.

"We explained that the party's stance that had called for an April resignation and June presidential election has become realistically hard to maintain," Chung said.

She said she told Park that the party's lawmakers will vote by "their conscience and free will" on Friday.

The impeachment bill needs the support of at least 200 lawmakers from the 300-seat parliament to pass. If it passes, the Constitutional Court would be required to rule within 180 days. If six of the court's nine justices support the impeachment, Park will be officially removed from office. The country then has to hold a presidential election within 60 days. </s> SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country’s conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China.

The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of Park’s supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court, and a festive rally by those who had demanded her ouster who celebrated justice being served.

“We did it. We the citizens, the sovereign of this country, opened a new chapter in history,” Lee Tae-ho, the leader of a movement to oust Park that has held mostly peaceful rallies in downtown involving millions, told a large gathering in Seoul.

Park becomes South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil over the corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in detention and on trial.

A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days.

Park did not appear in court, and a spokesman said she would not be making any comment. She also would not leave the presidential Blue House residence on Friday.

“Park is not leaving the Blue House today,” Blue House spokesman Kim Dong Jo told Reuters.

Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the president’s official compound.

The court’s acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law “throughout her term,” and despite the objections of parliament and the media, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics.

Park has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

The ruling to uphold parliament’s Dec. 9 vote to impeach her marks a dramatic fall from grace of South Korea’s first woman president and daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee. Both her parents were assassinated.

Park, 65, no longer has immunity and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil.

Graphic: Who's Who in Korea scandal here

MARKETS RISE

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was appointed acting president and will remain in that post until the election. He called on Park’s supporters and opponents to put their differences aside to prevent deeper division.

“It is time to accept, and close the conflict and confrontation we have suffered,” Hwang said in a televised speech.

A liberal presidential candidate, Moon Jae-in, is leading in opinion polls to succeed Park, with 32 percent support in one poll released on Friday. Hwang, who has not said whether he will seek the presidency, leads among conservatives, none of whom has more than single-digit poll ratings.

“Given Park’s spectacular demise and disarray among conservatives, the presidential contest in May is the liberals’ to lose,” said Yonsei University professor John Delury.

Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign, after the U.S. military this month started deploying the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in South Korea in response to North Korea’s stepped-up missile and nuclear tests.

Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, which was agreed last year between Washington and Seoul, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul.

The U.S. military said on Friday it would keep delivering THAAD components, separating the issue from South Korea’s internal political crisis. The new U.S. administration has been keen to install the system as quickly as possible due to concerns that a new government in Seoul could block the deployment.

“We have a strong relationship and will continue to work with South Korea,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. “It’s a domestic issue in which the United States takes no position in the outcome of that election.”

The Seoul market's benchmark KOSPI index .KS11 and the won currency KRW= rose after the ruling.

The prospect of a new president in the first half of this year instead of prolonged uncertainty would buoy domestic demand as well as the markets, said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.

“The hope is that this will allow the country to have a new leader that can address long-standing challenges such as labor market reforms and escalated geopolitical tensions,” he said.

Park was accused of colluding with her friend Choi and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

The court said Park had “completely hidden the fact of (Choi’s) interference with state affairs.”

Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favors, including backing a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen as supporting family succession and control over the country’s largest “chaebol,” or conglomerate.

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday.

Protesters supporting South Korean President Park Geun-hye clash with riot policemen near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea. Kyodo/via REUTERS

He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

Graphic: South Korea's impeachment - here

‘COMMON CRIMINAL’

The scandal and verdict have exposed fault lines in a country long divided by Cold War politics.

While Park’s conservative supporters clashed with police outside the court, elsewhere most people welcomed her ouster. A recent poll showed more than 70 percent supported her impeachment.

Hundreds of thousands of people have for months been gathering at peaceful rallies in Seoul every weekend to call for Park to step down.

On Friday, hundreds of Park’s supporters, many of them elderly, tried to break through police barricades at the courthouse. Police said one 72-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury and died. The circumstances of the second death were being investigated.

Six people were injured, protest organizers said.

Police blocked the main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul in anticipation of bigger protests.

Park will be making a tragic and untimely departure from the Blue House for the second time in her life.

In 1979, having served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father, she and her two siblings left the presidential compound after their father was killed.

This time, she could end up in jail.

Prosecutors have named Park as an accomplice in two court cases linked to the scandal, suggesting she is likely to be investigated.

North Korean state media wasted little time labeling Park a criminal.

“She had one more year left as ‘president’ but, now she’s been ousted, she will be investigated as a common criminal,” the North’s state KCNA news agency said shortly after the court decision.

Slideshow (21 Images)

Graphic: Falls from grace around the world - here
South Korean lawmakers impeach President Park Geun-hye by a 234–56 vote. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, a staunch defender of Ms. Park, will serve as acting president. South Korea's Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to render a final decision.