South Korean Parliament Votes for Leader’s Impeachment
Lawmakers endorsed the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, who is accused of extortion, abuse of power and bribery.
By CAMILLA SCHICK on December 9, 2016. Photo by Jeon Heon-Kyun/European Pressphoto Agency. Watch in Times Video »
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean lawmakers’ impeachment of President Park Geun-hye on Friday throws the country into a period of uncertainty as it grapples with a slowing economy, a growing nuclear threat from North Korea and a more assertive China.
Ms. Park, a conservative, had adopted a tough stance toward the North, focusing on stronger sanctions. Her administration had also agreed to deploy an American advanced missile defense system that infuriated the Chinese.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who will serve as acting president, convened a meeting of top security officials on Friday, vowing “resolute retaliation if North Korea misjudges the situation and attempts a provocation.”
Mr. Hwang said South Korea would persist in enforcing “strong sanctions and pressure” as part of international efforts to force North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons development.
Yet Ms. Park’s deep unpopularity — the result of a scandal over influence-peddling that erupted in October — may increase the chances of a liberal candidate winning the next election, possibly upending her North Korea approach. That could present a challenge for the incoming administration of Donald J. Trump, as he deliberates over whether to adjust Washington’s stance on North Korea’s advancing nuclear missile program.
Her powers are suspended while the Constitutional Court considers whether to remove her permanently. If it votes to do so, South Korea will hold an election for a new president in 60 days.
Ms. Park suggested that she intended to fight her impeachment, telling cabinet members hours later that she would “calmly” prepare for the court trial and giving no hint that she would resign.
“I am gravely accepting the voices of the people and the National Assembly, and I sincerely hope that the confusion will come to a satisfactory end,” she said in remarks broadcast on national television.
Ms. Park has been accused of allowing a shadowy confidante, the daughter of a religious sect leader, to exercise remarkable influence on matters ranging from choosing top government officials to her wardrobe, and of helping her extort tens of millions of dollars from South Korean companies.
Thousands of people who had gathered outside the Parliament building in the frigid cold on Friday cheered when the news was announced.
“My heart is beating so fast,” said Han Joo-young, 47, who had come from Paju, north of the capital. “I am so touched that people who are usually powerless can have so much power when they come together.”
A total of 234 lawmakers voted for impeachment, well over the required two-thirds threshold in the 300-seat National Assembly, the lone house of Parliament in South Korea. The vote was by secret ballot, but the results indicated that nearly half of the 128 lawmakers in Ms. Park’s party, Saenuri, had joined the opposition in moving to oust her.
Ms. Park, 64, came to power in early 2013, backed mostly by older Koreans who had hoped she would be a contemporary version of her father, the military dictator Park Chung-hee, often viewed as the modernizer of South Korea.
Instead, she became the least popular leader since the country began democratizing in the late 1980s, according to recent polls. Critics said she was authoritarian and used state power to muzzle critics while shielded by a coterie of advisers.
The last time South Koreans took to the streets to kick out an unpopular leader, in 1960, they had to fight bloody battles with police officers armed with rifles.
That uprising forced Syngman Rhee, the country’s founding and authoritarian president, to resign and flee into exile in Hawaii. Vice President Lee Ki-poong, a Rhee confidant who was at the center of a corruption scandal, and his family ended their lives in a group suicide as mobs approached their home in Seoul.
In subsequent decades, when South Koreans demanded more democracy, their military dictators, including Ms. Park’s father, brutally suppressed them through martial law, torturing and even executing their leaders.
In 1987, violence erupted again as people took to the streets to demand free presidential elections, forcing the military government to back down.
This time, in a sign of how far South Korea’s democracy has matured, peaceful crowds achieved their goal without a single arrest. Increasingly large numbers of protesters gathered in the capital, including 1.7 million people on Saturday — the largest protest in South Korean history.
Ms. Park became the first South Korean president to lose an impeachment vote since 2004, when the National Assembly moved to impeach Roh Moo-hyun for violating election law. Two months later, the Constitutional Court ruled that Mr. Roh’s offense was too minor to justify impeachment and restored him to office. But Ms. Park faces much more serious accusations.
Still, it is difficult to predict when and how the Constitutional Court will rule on Ms. Park’s fate.
Removing her would require the votes of at least six of the nine Constitutional Court judges. Among the current judges, six were appointed by Ms. Park or her conservative predecessor, or are otherwise seen as being close to her party.
The process, which may include hearings, will buy time for Ms. Park’s embattled party to recover from the scandal and prepare for the next presidential election if the court decides to formally unseat her.
Ms. Park joins the ranks of South Korean leaders who have been disgraced near the end of their terms, with their relatives or aides implicated in corruption scandals. An exception was Ms. Park’s father, who was assassinated in 1979 at the height of his dictatorial power and before anyone dared to bring corruption charges against him.
His and subsequent governments had favored a handful of family-owned conglomerates with tax benefits, lucrative business licenses and buy-Korea and anti-labor policies. The businesses were accused of returning the favors with bribes and suspicious donations.
Through the years, top corporations have been rocked by recurring corruption scandals, including the one that implicated Ms. Park and her confidante, Choi Soon-sil.
In 1988, business tycoons were hauled into a parliamentary hearing to be questioned about millions of dollars they gave to a foundation controlled by the military dictator Chun Doo-hwan.
The scene repeated this week, when nine business leaders, including Jay Y. Lee, the vice chairman of Samsung, and Chung Mong-koo, the Hyundai chairman, appeared at another parliamentary hearing to be questioned about millions of dollars they gave to two foundations controlled by Ms. Choi.
Ms. Choi has been indicted on charges of leveraging her influence with Ms. Park to extort the money from the businesses. Prosecutors have also identified Ms. Park as a criminal suspect, a first for a president, though she cannot be indicted while in office.
The businessmen admitted giving the money, confirming that the requests had come directly from Ms. Park or her aides.
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