South Korea's National Assembly has voted to impeach president Park Geun-hye and suspended her authority after a corruption and influence peddling scandal that has seen huge protests in the capital Seoul.
The next step is that the country’s constitutional court will decide whether to uphold the motion and remove Ms Park from office or to reject it and reinstate her.
The nine-judge court has 180 days to consider its decision, and if six of those judges support her impeachment, she will be formally removed from office and an election must take place within 60 days.
If Ms Park voluntarily resigns, an election would be held within two months. She has indicated, however, that she will not go quietly, and will “patiently await” the court’s decision.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will serve as the acting president of South Korea, with full control over both internal and external affairs.
“Hwang is expected to focus on maintaining a stable national security posture, especially amid the prolonged tension with Pyongyang,” the Yonhap news agency reported. “Park’s vacancy is also expected to bring challenges in South Korea’s preparations to deal with the upcoming US administration, which will be led by President-elect Donald Trump.”
Approval
The motion was passed with an approval of 234 members of the 300-seat parliament, with a minimum requirement of 200 needed to pass the bill. The passage suspends all the president’s authority as the head of state before the constitutional court announces its review.
The impeachment bill was tabled by South Korea’s three opposition parties, claiming Ms Park violated the constitution and other rules in relation to the influence-peddling scandal of her long-term confidante Choi Soon-sil.
Prosecutors have indicted Ms Choi on suspicion of extorting 77.4 billion won (€62 million) in donations for various charities she set up, by putting pressure on the country’s powerful “chaebols” or industrial conglomerates.
The prosecutors believe that Ms Park conspired with Ms Choi. The president cannot be indicted while in office, but she has been officially identified as a criminal suspect, which is an entirely new development in Korean politics.
During the last impeachment in South Korea in 2004, it took the constitutional court 63 days to dismiss the impeachment motion against late former president Roh Moo-hyun.
The next presidential election in South Korea had been originally slated for December 2017.
