The impeachment of Park Geun-hye (Korean: 박근혜 대통령 탄핵), the President of South Korea, was the culmination of a political scandal involving the level of access to the presidency by an side. The impeachmentvote took place on December 9, 2016, with 234 members of the 300-member National Assembly voting to impeach Park Geun-hye and suspend her presidential powers and duties. As a result of the impeachment vote, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the prime minister, became acting president while the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled on whether to accept or reject the impeachment. The court upheld the impeachment on 10 March 2017 in a unanimous decision, removing Park from office.
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Background
South Korean Constitution and Constitutional Court Act
Main articles: Constitution of South Korea and Constitutional Court of Korea
The procedure for impeachment is set out in the South Korean Constitution.
According to Article 65 Clause 1, if the President, Prime Minister, or other state council members violate the Constitution or other laws of official duty, the National Assembly can impeach them.
Clause 2 states the impeachment bill must be proposed by one third, and approved by the majority of the total members of the National Assembly for passage. In the case of the President, the motion must be proposed by a majority and approved by two thirds or more of the total members of the National Assembly, meaning that 200 of 300 members of the parliament must approve the bill. This article also states that any person against whom a motion for impeachment has been passed shall be suspended from exercising his/her power until the impeachment has been adjudicated, and a decision on impeachment shall not extend further than removal from public office. However, impeachment shall not exempt the person impeached from civil or criminal liability for such violations.
By the Constitutional Court Act of 1988, the Constitutional Court must make a final decision within 180 days after it receives any case for adjudication, including impeachment cases. If the respondent has already left office before the pronouncement of the decision, the case is dismissed.
The last South Korean president to be subject to impeachment was Roh Moo-hyun, who was impeached by parliament in 2004 and was suspended from duties for two months. In that case, the Constitutional Court of Korea acquitted Roh and restored him to power.However, the South Korean public was by and large in support of Roh.
Choi Soon-sil scandal
Main article: 2016 South Korean political scandal
Revelations were made in late October 2016, that President Park Geun-hye's aide, Choi Soon-sil, who did not have an official position in the government, had used her position to seek donations of money from several business conglomerates (known as chaebol), includingSamsung, Hyundai, SK Group and Lotte, to two foundations she controlled. Allegations also surfaced about Choi's access to Park's personal and work life, where it was said to have directly influenced, and interfered with the policy of, the state council.
Choi was arrested and Geun-hye eventually apologized three times to both the country and her cabinet, beginning in October, but protests against her continued. The protests lasted six weeks with Park's approval rating dropping to 4%, and according to an opinion poll, as of December 9, 78% of South Koreans supported her impeachment.
The response to the Sewol ferry sinking accident that occurred on April 16, 2014 also contributed to Park's declining presidential ratings.
Political developments
On December 3, at 4:10 am, Woo Sang-ho of theDemocratic Party, Park Jie-won of the People's Party, and Roh Hoe-chan of the Justice Party moved the "President (Park Geun-hye) impeachment proposal" in the National Assembly on behalf of 171 members of their respective parties and other independent representatives, on the grounds that Geun-hye had violated the Constitution and the law. Park's Saenuri Party initially preferred Park to voluntarily step down in late April, but with mounting protests, the ruling party became divided on whether Park should step down voluntarily or be impeached. On December 4, members of Saenuri's non-mainstream factions declared that they would vote in favor of Park's impeachment.
The 300-member National Assembly was scheduled to vote on an impeachment bill on December 9, when the legislative session ended. As impeachment requires a two-thirds majority, if at least 200 members voted to impeach, Park would have been impeached and immediately suspended from her office. There were up to 172 opposition and independent lawmakers, which meant at a minimum 28 of the 128 MPs from the ruling Saenuri party needed to cross the floor and join the opposition in supporting the impeachment measure for the vote to pass.
Parliamentary motion
On December 8, the South Korean National Assembly announced that the vote of motion to impeach would take place on December 9 at 3:00 pm local time. As planned, on December 9, South Korean MPs approved the impeachment motion by a vote of 234 in favor and 56 against in a secret ballot. The Speaker of the National Assembly (who happens to be unaffiliated with any party) abstained from the vote. Two other MPs abstained from voting and seven votes were declared invalid.
As a result of the impeachment motion passing, President Park's powers and duties were suspended for up to 180 days while the Constitutional Court of Koreadecided about the validity of impeachment motion. Six of the nine judges on that court must agree with the impeachment for the removal to take effect. The court agreed with the impeachment on 10 March 2017, making it the first time that a sitting president was removed from the office since the Sixth Republic of South Korea was set up after the country's democratization.
Upon President Park's impeachment on 9 Decemeber 2016, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn assumed presidential powers and duties at 19:30 Korean Standard Time, on an interim basis. Upon Park's removal from office on 10 March 2017, a new presidential election was scheduled to take place within 60 days.
Reactions
Protesters congregated outside the National Assembly hall where the voting session was held. Some 40 family members of the victims of the sinking of MV Sewollooked on as lawmakers cast their secret ballots. Citizens who have been rallying in massive numbers against Park rejoiced at the news, while Park’s supporters called the parliamentary impeachment a “witch-hunt” without concrete evidence of Park’s wrongdoings.
Constitutional Court hearing and removal from office
The South Korean constitutional court had up to 180 days (until early June 2017) to decide on the issue. It held public hearings to hear from both sides on whether the National Assembly had followed due process and the impeachment was justified.
The Constitutional Court has been considered generally conservative, as all nine judges of the Constitutional Court were appointed during the conservative Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. The Constitutional Court was to start the Preparatory Hearing on 22 December, with initial views from both sides.
The first trial was about the mystery of the whereabouts of Park Geun-hye at 7 hours after Sewol ferry sinking. Some alleged that Park was participating in a cult ritual, having an affair or undergoing plastic surgery. Then, on 23 December, the Justice Ministry of South Korea said that it has submitted its views on the recent parliamentary vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye to the Constitutional Court, adding that the process has met all the necessary legal requirements.
The Constitutional Court was to officially start the main hearings on Tuesday, 3 January 2017 and Park would not be required to appear for questioning. Park was absent in the first open hearing and the first session was closed after just nine minutes. The hearings were rescheduled to start on 5 January 2017. The trial heard arguments and evidence until 27 February.
Verdict
On 10 March 2017, the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment in a unanimous 8–0 decision, terminating Park's presidency. As supporters and opponents of Park gathered outside the building for the verdict, the ensuing clashes between her supporters and police resulted in injuries, three of which later proved fatal.
References
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External links
Media related to Movement for the resignation of Park Geun-hye at Wikimedia Commons
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