Impeachment Motion Against S. Korean President Park Delayed

The impeachment motion against South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been pushed back to a later date Thursday as the opposition parties failed to narrow their differences on when to forward it to parliament.

    While the main opposition Democratic Party wanted to forward the motion so it can be voted on Friday, the minor People's Party countered that the vote should take place next week. It added more time is needed to win the support of lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party, according to (Yonhap) news agency.

    Park has been accused of colluding with her confidante Choi Soon-sil in an influence-peddling scandal. Park said earlier she would comply with lawmakers' decision on her fate while declining to give more details about her future.

    "Our goal is to impeach Park, rather than just focusing on moving ahead with the motion," said Rep. Lee Yong-ho, the spokesman of the People's Party. "As the non-Park members of Saenuri wish to continue discussions until at least next Wednesday, it is effectively impossible for the motion to be passed (Friday)." In order for the impeachment motion to pass, 200 lawmakers of the 300-seat National Assembly need to sign off on it. The opposition bloc is 28 seats short of getting a two-thirds vote and therefore must persuade the non-Park faction in Saenuri to join forces as well.

    South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Thursday it will seek to have President Park Geun-hye step down before the end of April and hold the presidential election in June instead of late 2017, instead of impeaching Park and ending up with what it calls "more confusion in state affairs." Rep. Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of Saenuri, said the decision to have the president step down by late April came unanimously among its lawmakers, as they believed that time is needed to prepare for the presidential election and the orderly handover of power.

Source: QNA