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Impeachment of Park Geun-hye

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President Park Geun-hye, 2013.

The Impeachment of President Park Geun-hye (Korean: 박근혜 대통령 탄핵 소추) was the culmination of a political scandal involving the level of access to the presidency by an aide. The impeachment vote took place on December 9, 2016, with 234 members of the 300-member National Assembly voting to impeach Park Geun-hye and suspend her from the office.[1] As a result of the impeachment vote, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the Prime Minister of South Korea, became acting president for a term of up to 180 days while the Constitutional Court of Korea rules on whether to accept or reject the impeachment.

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 power until the impeachment has been adjudicated and a decision on impeachment shall not extend further than removal from public office. Provided, that it shall not exempt the person impeached from civil or criminal liability.

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.[2]

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.[3] However, the South Korean public was by and large in support of Roh.[4] Despite the infrequency of impeachment, every presidency since the start of South Korea's democracy has ended in some form of scandal.[5]

Choi Soon-sil scandal

Main article: 2016 South Korean political scandal
Protest against Park Geun-hye in Seoul, October 29, 2016
the National Assembly, where Impeachment vote begins

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 funds from several business conglomerates (known as chaebol), including Samsung, Hyundai, SK Group and Lotte, to two foundations she controlled.[6][7] 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.[8] The response to the Sewol ferry sinking accident that occurred on April 16, 2014 also contributed to Park's declining presidential ratings.[9]

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.[10]

Political developments

On December 3, at 4:10 am, Woo Sang-ho of the Democratic 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.[11] 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.[12]

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.[10]

Parliamentary motion

Prime Minister, Now Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn at Cabinet meeting in December 2016

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.[13] 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.[14]

As a result of the impeachment motion passing, President Park is suspended from the presidency for up to 180 days while the Constitutional Court of Korea decides 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. If the court agrees with the impeachment, it would be the first time that a sitting president is removed from the office since the Sixth Republic of South Korea was set up after the country's democratization.[3]

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has taken charge of the office of the presidency at 19:30 Korean Standard Time, on an interim basis.[15] If Park leaves office early for any reason – whether through the impeachment being approved by the Constitutional Court or through her own resignation – a new presidential election must take place within 60 days.[4]

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 Sewol looked 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.[16][17]

On December 10, hundreds of thousands gathered for a demonstration in celebration of the events.[18]

On January 1, 2017, Park appeared in front of the public for the first time since the impeachment, saying she denies any allegations of the scandal and wrongdoings.[19][20]

Constitutional Court hearing and decision

Constitutional Court Building, where the judge made the impeachment decision

The Constitutional Court of Korea has up to 180 days (until early June 2017) to decide on the issue. It will hold public hearings to hear from both sides on whether the National Assembly had followed due process and the impeachment was justified.[4] Park likely will be absent in these trials.[21][22]

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.[23] The Constitutional Court was to start the Preparatory Hearing on 22 December, with initial views from both sides.[24][25]

According to Reuters, some former judges of the court have said that the evidence in the Park case is very strong, although no individuals were identified by name.[4]

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.[26] 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.[27]

The Constitutional Court was to officially start the main hearings on Tuesday, 3 January 2017[28] and Park would not be required to appear for questioning. But Park was absent in the first open hearing and the first session was closed after just nine minutes.[29] The hearings were rescheduled to start on 5 January 2017.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Choe Sang-hun (December 9, 2016). "South Korea Parliament Votes to Impeach President Park Geun-hye". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  2. ^ Umeda, Sayuri (December 2, 2016). "South Korea: President May Be Impeached". Library of Congress. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Park Geun-hye: South Korea lawmakers vote to impeach leader". BBC News. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Park, Ju-min; Kim, Jack (December 9, 2016). "South Korean parliament votes overwhelmingly to impeach President Park". Reuters. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  5. ^ "South Korea To Vote On Impeachment Of Scandal-Stricken President". NPR.org. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  6. ^ "South Korea prosecutors: President conspired with her friend". Associated Press. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  7. ^ "Prosecutors raid Lotte, SK, finance ministry over Choi scandal". The Korea Times. November 24, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  8. ^ "South Korea's presidential scandal". BBC News. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  9. ^ "This could be the week that ends Park Geun-hye's presidency in South Korea". Los Angeles Times. December 5, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Campbell, Charlie (December 9, 2016). "South Korea's Loathed President Park Geun-hye Has Been Impeached". TIME.com. Time. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  11. ^ "South Korean opposition parties introduce bill to impeach scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye". The Independent. December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  12. ^ "South Korean President To Wait For Court's Impeachment Verdict". Yahoo. December 6, 2016.
  13. ^ "Parlemen Korea Selatan tetapkan Pemakzulan Presiden Park besok". Tempo (in Indonesian). December 8, 2016.
  14. ^ Joo Youngjae; Huh Namseol (December 9, 2016). "[속보] 박근혜 대통령 탄핵소추안 가결···찬성 234·반대 56·무효 7·기권 2". KyungHyang (in Korean). Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  15. ^ "South Korea's Impeachment Process, Explained". The New York Times. November 28, 2016.
  16. ^ "Rakyat Korsel Rayakan Pemakzulan Presiden Park Geun-hye". detikcom (in Indonesian). December 9, 2016.
  17. ^ "Park Geun-hye Impeached". Korea Herald. December 9, 2016.
  18. ^ "South Koreans rally to celebrate Park ouster". PressTV. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  19. ^ "'Totally framed': South Korean President Park Geun-hye denies any wrongdoing, plays down aide's influence". South China Morning Post. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  20. ^ "South Korea's Park emerges from seclusion, denies wrongdoing in scandal". Reuters. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  21. ^ "Impeached South Korea president spared court appearance". Channel News Asia. December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  22. ^ "S Korean Constitutional Court Rules Out Park's Testimony in Impeachment Process". Sputnik News. December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  23. ^ "Politics and public view may influence justices". Korea JoongAng Daily. December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  24. ^ "South Korea court was held first impeachment trial of Park Geun-hye on 22 December". International Business Times. December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  25. ^ "South Korean Court Begins Hearings on Park Geun-hye's Impeachment". New York Times. December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  26. ^ "President '7 missing Hours' still in mystery". Korea Times. December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  27. ^ "(LEAD) Justice ministry submits views on impeachment to court". Yonhap News. December 23, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  28. ^ "Court to Start Official Hearings on Park's Impeachment next Tuesday". KBS World. December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  29. ^ "South Korean leader Park absent as impeachment hearing begins". BBC. January 3, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  30. ^ "Park, Choi deny all charges". The Korea Herald. January 5, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
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