South Korea's Parliament approved a motion Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye, suspending her from office pending a Constitutional Court decision. Motoko Rich, The Times's Tokyo bureau chief, reporting from Seoul, describes the scandal that led to the vote. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean lawmakers vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye, a stunning fall for country’s first female president. </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leader of the conservative ruling party, said after an hour-long meeting with Park that she was willing to accept a now-withdrawn proposal by the party for her to voluntarily step down in April to set up a presidential election in June.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, South Korea — President Park Geun-hye of South Korea said Tuesday that she was willing to resign before her term ends, in an effort to head off a pending impeachment vote over a devastating corruption scandal.

“I am giving up everything now,” she said in a dramatic, five-minute televised address, offering her third public apology for the scandal that has paralyzed her government for weeks. It was the first time South Koreans had heard from their cloistered leader since a previous televised public apology on Nov. 4.

But opposition lawmakers immediately rejected the offer, calling it a ploy meant to divide her political opponents and allow Ms. Park to survive in office, and they vowed to proceed with impeachment efforts. But their plan to call for an impeachment vote on Friday has been cast into doubt.

Members of Ms. Park’s party who had supported impeachment have now suggested that the vote be delayed until Dec. 9, to give rival parties time to negotiate a date for Ms. Park’s resignation instead. The opposition needs the support of those governing party lawmakers to pass an impeachment bill. </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, South Korea (AP) — 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 for Park’s impeachment Friday. Those votes, when combined with 172 from opposition and anti-Park independent lawmakers, should be enough to impeach her.

The decision by the anti-Park ruling party lawmakers came after hundreds of thousands of people turned up for a rally Saturday calling for Park’s ouster, the sixth straight weekend of demonstrations.

The opposition submitted an impeachment motion over the weekend, accusing Park of letting a longtime confidante manipulate government affairs. </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> 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’s scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye said Tuesday she would accept the result of a looming and possibly lengthy impeachment process, but defied pressure to resign immediately.

An opposition-sponsored impeachment motion is almost certain to be adopted by the national assembly on Friday, with some 30 rebel MPs from Park’s Saenuri party saying they will vote in favor.

The motion would then require the approval of the Constitutional Court, whose deliberations could take up to six months.

“Even if the impeachment bill is passed, I am resolved to continue calmly for the country and the people, while watching the Constitutional Court procedures,” Park was quoted as saying by Saenuri parliamentary floor leader Chung Jin-Suk.

During an hour-long meeting with the president, Chung said he had told her that public sentiment had forced the Saenuri party to withdraw an earlier proposal for Park to step down voluntarily in April.

“She nodded and said she accepted my stance,” Chung said.

Millions of South Koreans have taken to the streets of Seoul and other cities in a series of weekly mass protests demanding Park’s ousting.

During the latest rally on Saturday, there was particular anger directed against the Saenuri’s resignation proposal, with protesters saying it was aimed at buying Park time and avoiding impeachment.

As a result the party withdrew its whip aimed at defeating Friday’s motion and said its MPs would be allowed to vote freely according to their conscience.

Hwang Young-Cheul, one member of an anti-Park faction within the party, said the idea that the president could step down in April had “already been rejected by the people”.

“All preparations have been made that are necessary to ensure the impeachment motion be passed,” Hwang said.

The scandal that has engulfed Park and paralyzed her administration has focused on her friendship with long-time confidante Choi Soon-Sil.

Choi has been charged with meddling in state affairs and using her Blue House connections to force dozens of conglomerates to donate around $70 million to two foundations she controlled.

In a first for a sitting South Korean president, Park has been named a “suspect” by prosecutors investigating Choi.

While she retains the presidency, Park cannot be charged with a criminal offence except insurrection or treason, but she would lose that immunity once she leaves office. AFP

 AFP/CC
A bill is introduced into the South Korean National Assembly to impeach President Park Geun-hye. A vote is expected tomorrow.