On December 9, the South Korean Congress passed the impeachment case against President Park Geun-hye . Park Geun-hye will be suspended from the presidential power.
This is the second presidential impeachment case passed by the National Assembly in South Korea’s constitutional history.
According to CCTV News, on the afternoon of December 9, local time, at the plenary session of the Korean National Assembly, members of the Korean National Assembly passed the impeachment case of President Park Geun-hye with a secret vote of 234 votes in favor and 56 votes against. The Speaker of the Korean National Assembly announced After the votes were counted, applause erupted. At the voting site, family members of the Sewol shipwreck shouted "Thank you, members of Congress."
It is understood that after the vote was passed, the presidential powers of South Korean President Park Geun-hye immediately entered a state of suspension, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-an acted as the president. The impeachment case immediately entered the ruling process of the Constitutional Court. The Korean Constitutional Court must decide whether the impeachment case is valid within 180 days.
In addition, the special inspection team targeting the "Crony Interfering in Politics" incident has fully taken over the prosecutor's investigation. Independent Prosecutor , who leads the special inspection team, said that he will thoroughly investigate the incident from the beginning and return the truth to the people. The opposition parties welcomed the impeachment passed by Congress and said they would continue to push for Park Geun-hye to step down.
The scene of the impeachment vote
[Related background: "Park Geun-hye Impeachment Case"]
Since the "Crony Interference in Government" incident was exposed, South Korean President Park Geun-hye has issued three speeches to the people. However, her public support rate has dropped to 4% . The support rate of Park Geun-hye's ruling Saenuri Party also fell to 12%, both hitting record lows. Opponents of Park Geun-hye have organized six rounds of candlelight rallies, with many rally participants calling for Park Geun-hye's arrest.
1. Contents of the impeachment case:
The impeachment case mainly involves three controversial events:
First, Park Geun-hye condoned "cronies" Choi Soon-sil to interfere in national affairs, which violated the Constitution.
Second, Park Geun-hye failed to effectively protect people’s lives in response to the Sewol shipwreck incident and failed to fulfill her obligations to the president under the Constitution.
Third, Park Geun-hye was suspected of accepting bribes in the case of Choi Soon-sil coercing large companies to donate to her controlled consortium.
2. Voting process:
The presidential impeachment motion is the only proposal today. The impeachment motion will be submitted to the speaker, the opposition party will explain the proposal, members will speak freely for 5 minutes, and the whole process will be voted on.
According to relevant regulations, if the presidential impeachment motion is to be passed by the South Korean Congress, it must obtain two-thirds of the seats in the Congress, that is, more than 200 votes in favor. Currently, the opposition and independent parties have 172 seats, so the approval of at least 28 members of the ruling party is required. Among them, members of the ruling party’s “non-Park faction” are crucial.
3. Impact of the results:
As far as South Korea’s political situation is concerned, regardless of whether the impeachment case is passed by Congress, South Korea’s national affairs will not be normalized in the short term, and chaos and “blankness” in national affairs are inevitable.
If Congress passes the impeachment motion, according to regulations, the next step will be submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal for arbitration, and the arbitration process can take up to 6 months. During this period, President Park Geun-hye's authority will be suspended, and some powers will be assumed by the Prime Minister. However, currently Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-an is regarded as a close confidant of Park Geun-hye and is not accepted by the opposition camp and many people.
If the impeachment motion is not passed by Congress, it may cause greater social chaos. Because at present, Park Geun-hye’s resignation is the general trend of the people. According to estimates by the organizers, 2.32 million people attended anti-Putism rallies across the country on the 3rd alone, setting a new record. The latest poll results also show that 91% of the people have a negative attitude towards Park Geun-hye's ability to govern. Therefore, if the impeachment motion fails to pass, it may trigger larger-scale public protests.
