The National Assembly on December 9 passed the impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye. Immediately after the impeachment resolution was delivered to the Presidential Office, President Park was suspended from office.
In the 300-member National Assembly, 299 lawmakers attended the plenary session to decide the impeachment motion bill. The impeachment motion bill was passed with 234 votes in favor and 56 votes against with 7 invalid votes and 2 abstentions. The result of the impeachment vote was well above 200 votes which are required to meet the quorum of two-thirds of 300 votes for the passage. Only 56 votes opposed the impeachment.
The National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun delivered the original impeachment resolution to Rep. Kwon Sung-dong, the Chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly.
Certified copies were delivered to the Constitutional Court and President Park Geun-hye respectively on the same day. Upon receiving the certified copy, the Constitutional Court starts the deliberation on the impeachment resolution. The Constitutional Court has to make a verdict within 180 days. President Park is suspended from office until the Constitutional Court makes a ruling, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn becomes the acting head of state.
Rep. Kim Kwang-young of the opposition People's Party presented an executive summary of the impeachment motion bill in the plenary session before taking a parliamentary vote. Rep. Kim highlighted that President Park Geun-hye obliviated her responsibility and duty as the head of state and the head of the executive branch of the government and breached the Constitution and laws in relation to the execution of her executive power.
He said that it is an unacceptable breach from the perspective of the responsibility and duty of the President to safeguard the Constitution, and President Park betrayed the people's confidence that President Park enjoyed. The impeachment motion bill was jointly signed by 171 lawmakers of the opposition parties of the Minjoo(Democratic) Party of Korea, the People's Party and the Justice Party with independent lawmakers and it was submitted to the National Assembly on December 3.
According to the impeachment resolution, what President Park Geun-hye breaches the Constitution is as follows; delivering and leaking the classified documents and appointments to Choi Soon-sil, President Park's close friend and confidante, and meddling in the appointments of the minister and vice-minister by Park's inner circle including Choi Soon-sil, extorting private companies to make donations to the foundations for Choi Soon-sil, and coercing the CEO of the Segye Ilbo(a local daily newspaper) to resign.
The impeachment bill also included the failed rescue operation responses of the Sewol ferry disaster and stonewalling the information disclosure and covering-up on President Park for 7 hours on the day when the Sewol ferry was sinking.
When it is considered that 171 lawmakers in the opposition party block jointly submitted the impeachment, additional 63 lawmakers were supportive of the impeachment. This means that a significant number of lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party who were previously not associated with some 30 plus anti-Park group deserted from the pro-Park group and finally joined the anti-Park group's campaign of the impeachment which may lead to the division of the party after all.
Before closing the plenary session for the impeachment motion against Park Geun-hye, while raising concerns about the paralysis of state affairs experienced in the past months, the National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun hoped that the impeachment passage will create no more chaos. He also asked the public employees to work hard for the revival of the economy on the verge of a crisis. He did not forget to mention the role of the National Assembly as a pillar of state affairs to stabilize the nation.
The 'Emergency People's Action for the Resignation of Park Geun-hye Regime' organized rally in front of the National Assembly, while the plenary session was being held to impeach President Park Geun-hye.
reported by Yon Yoon-jeong
translated by Kim Sung-jin