South Korean lawmakers impeach president

Seoul, South Korea | AFP |

South Korean lawmakers on Friday voted to impeach President Park Geun-Hye, stripping away her sweeping executive powers over a corruption scandal and opening a new period of national uncertainty.

The National Assembly ballot immediately transferred Park’s authority to the prime minister, pending a decision 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 time Park will 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 elevated military tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea.

“I am so 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 single minute, given the grave situation we face at home and abroad from our economy to the national defence.

“In this time of uncertainty, the lives of our people should never be disregarded,” she said calling on the government to unite and minimise any fallout from the resulting power vacuum.

 Celebrations 

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

“This is a great moment,” said a beaming Kim Jun-Hweh, 21. “This is what we wanted, and we want her kicked out of the Blue House now.”

It has been 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.

The impeachment motion had accused Park of constitutional and criminal violations ranging from a failure to protect people’s lives to bribery and abuse of power.

Supported by all 171 opposition and independent lawmakers, its adoption was made possible by an anti-Park faction within the president’s Saenuri party.

The result means Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn, a former prosecutor who has never held elected office, suddenly finds himself in charge of Asia’s fourth largest economy and supreme commander of its armed forces.

National defence pledge 

In a televised address just hours after the vote, Hwang stressed that the country was primed to respond to any North Korean provocation.

“The government will maintain a watertight national defense posture,” Hwang said, pledging to keep the country safe and prosperous.

“We will stabilise the financial and currency markets and make efforts to maintain South Korea’s sovereign ratings,” he said.