Park Guen-hye impeached

South Korean Parliament passed an impeachment motion against the President Park Guen-hye for her involvement in a corruption scandal by colluding with a close friend Choi Soon-sil. The motion was passed by 234 votes to 56. This passes all the executive powers of the President to the Prime Minister till the decision of the Constitutional Court is given to finally ratify the motion.

Park has refused to resign till the final verdict of the Constitutional Court. With the impeachment Park now faces the risk of becoming the first democratically elected President to be removed from office. The Constitutional Court has 180 days to decide to uphold the motion and remove Park from office or reinstate her. The decision can be either ways as in 2004 on the impeachment of President Roh Moo-Hyun was rejected by the Constitutional Court.

The opposition has threatened for a mass resignation if the motion is rejected by the Court as a responsibility for not being able to abide by the wishes of the public.