Park says she will accept result of Friday’s impeachment vote but would leave it to constitutional court to decide on its validity

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

South Korea’s embattled leader, Park Geun-hye, will respond “calmly” to the outcome of an impeachment motion later this week, political allies have said as she again defied calls to step down immediately over a corruption and cronyism scandal that has brought her presidency to the brink of collapse.



Park, who became the country’s first female president in late 2012, appears to be attempting to dictate the terms of her now inevitable exit as she braces for Friday’s impeachment vote in parliament.

But her favoured course of action – an April resignation – no longer has the support of members of her ruling Saenuri party.

Faced with approval ratings that have dropped to a record low of 4% since the scandal broke several weeks ago, Park said on Tuesday that she would accept the result of the impeachment vote, but would leave it to the constitutional court to decide if the vote was valid.



“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 the Saenuri parliamentary floor leader, Chung Jin-suk.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters call for Park Geun-hye to step down in Seoul. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

During their hour-long meeting, Chung said he told Park that public anger had forced the ruling Saenuri party to withdraw an earlier proposal for her to step down voluntarily in April, with a new president to be elected in June, six months ahead of schedule.

Park had indicated that she was willing to accept the now scrapped proposal, Chung added.

“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 nodded and said she accepted my stance.”

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.



Commentators agreed that Park’s remarks indicated she was not prepared to step down voluntarily, even if Friday’s motion was passed. Instead, she would wait for the constitutional court’s verdict – a process that could take up to six months.



“She will fight really hard to overturn at the constitutional court,” said Rhee Jong-hoon, a political commentator at iGM Consulting.

“And if the motion is overturned? She will remain in office until her term is finished. Nothing matters after the constitutional court rules against the impeachment bill.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A student holds a placard depicting South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye, as a puppet manipulated by Choi Soon-sil. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press

For the impeachment motion to pass by the required two-thirds majority in the 300-seat national assembly, opposition MPs must all vote in favour and win the support of at least 28 ruling party lawmakers.

South Korean media quoted opposition politicians as saying that they had secured 35-40 Saenuri votes, but that claim has been disputed.



If the impeachment bill succeeds, Park would be suspended as president but not immediately removed. Her duties would be temporarily transferred to the prime minister while the court reviews whether her impeachment is constitutionally sound.

If six of the court’s nine justices support the impeachment, Park would be removed from office and a new presidential election held within 60 days.

On Monday, MPs said the strength of public feeling meant that parliament must go ahead with impeachment, irrespective of Park’s determination to hang on until April and leave office voluntarily.

“The public’s anger, reflected through candlelight rallies, will not allow the president to return to state affairs,” said Park Jie-won of the opposition People’s party, according to Yonhap news agency. “Our only option is an impeachment.”



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

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Huge rally of demonstrators protesting against South Korean president Park Geun-hye on 26 November in Seoul. Photograph: Woohae Cho/Getty Images

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

Park’s conduct during her single five-year term, which was supposed to run until early 2018, has evoked fury across the South Korean political spectrum following accusations that she abused her position to help a longtime friend.

Park is accused of colluding with Choi Soon-sil, whom she has known for decades, to coerce major South Korean companies such as Samsung into donating $70m (£55m) to two foundations run by Choi.

Choi faces embezzlement charges while Park, who has been named as a formal suspect, has denied seeking any personal gain.

As long as she remains president, Park cannot be charged with any criminal offence except insurrection or treason, but she would lose that immunity upon leaving office.

Choi, the daughter of a Christian cult leader who befriended Park after her father, former South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee, was assassinated in 1979, is also believed to have meddled in government policy.

Reports said that Choi, a Rasputin-like figure who has never held public office and does not have security clearance, influenced Park’s decisions on everything from economic policy to the North Korean nuclear threat.

The revelations have sparked massive protests in recent weeks, with organisers claiming that as many as 1.5 million people turned out in the capital Seoul last weekend to demand Park’s resignation.