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| Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho, center, joins hands with Rep. Park Jie-won, left, of the People's Party and Roh Hoe-chan of the Justice Party, ahead of their meeting at the National Assembly, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Rachel Lee
Three opposition parties agreed Friday to put their impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye to a National Assembly vote on Dec. 9, calling on lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party not aligned with the President to join forces to remove her from power.
After the agreement, they jointly submitted an impeachment motion to the Assembly after gathering consent from their lawmakers.
Assuming that all 172 opposition and independent lawmakers vote for the motion, at least 28 votes are required from the ruling party for the passage of the motion, which requires support from two-thirds of the 300-member Assembly.
Earlier in the day, the ruling party's anti-Park faction, which holds the key to the motion's passage, proposed talks with the opposition bloc on setting up a political roadmap for Park's resignation, including the date for an early presidential election. The rival faction also urged Park to clarify by Monday when she will resign, saying they would vote for impeachment if all these efforts fail. They suggested Dec. 9 would be best for the date of the vote, if it takes place.
The opposition parties accepted their proposal for the date of the vote, but made it clear they will not negotiate over Park's resignation until the impeachment vote takes place.
During a plenary session at the National Assembly, the leaders of the three opposition parties ― the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the People's Party and the Justice Party ― decided to push ahead with Park's impeachment even if Park declares her will to voluntarily resign in April as demanded by the ruling Saenuri Party.
"There won't be any discussions regarding impeachment even if the President, who refused to be questioned by prosecutors, accepts the Saenuri Party's suggestion to resign early," People's Party floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won said.
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The opposition bloc called on the Saenuri rival faction to stop being "indecisive" and join hands for impeachment.
The impeachment vote was initially planned for Dec. 2 in cooperation with the rival faction of the ruling party, which also vowed to vote. But after the President asked political parties on Tuesday to decide when she should step down, the faction changed its position and instead unanimously agreed to push for the President's voluntary resignation by the end of April and then have an early presidential election in June.
"Considering the passage of the motion as our priority, realistic dates for the impeachment vote were around Dec. 8 or 9," DPK spokesman Ki Dong-min said.
The motion included Park's failure to save lives protected by the Constitution in the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014, which claimed the lives of 304 passengers.
The motion also states that the President violated the Constitution and the principles of democracy by allowing her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs and extort money from local conglomerates, including Samsung, Lotte and SK, for the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which could be considered a form of bribery if done in return for favors.
The motion also cited allegations that Choi received luxury handbags and cash from KD Corporation as bribes.
Park's term is scheduled to end in February 2018 and the next presidential election is currently scheduled for December 2017.
Park called on the National Assembly Tuesday to determine the details regarding her resignation in her third nationally televised speech since late October when the scandal broke. The speech was delivered at a time when there had seemed to be a great possibility for the impeachment motion to be passed as the rival faction had vowed to vote with the opposition.
Park was accused of colluding with Choi in the corruption and influence-peddling scandal. Choi was indicted Nov. 20 for allegedly interfering in state affairs and extorting local conglomerates to make donations to the two foundations.
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