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Pres. Park accepts call for resignation in April

Posted December. 06, 2016 07:14,   

Updated December. 06, 2016 07:20

한국어

The pro-Park leadership of the ruling Saenuri Party demanded Monday that President Park should clarify her stance on the proposal in which she leaves the office in late April to hold an early presidential election in late June next year. In response, Chief Presidential Secretary Han Gwang-ok, who was attending the special parliamentary investigation committee on the Choi Soon-sil scandals, said the president would accept the proposal for early resignation. The remarks made it official that the president would leave the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in five months.

Given that the drive for impeachment is reaching the finishing line, however, pundits point out that it will be almost impossible to turn around the atmosphere for passing the impeachment motion on Friday. The non-mainstream members of the ruling party said on Sunday that even if the president announces an early retirement plan, they would still take part in the impeachment vote should the ruling and opposition parties fail to compromise. The opposition parties have shut out the possibility for negotiation. It is analyzed that the presidential office made a proxy announcement on Monday through Chief Secretary Han as the office considered it impossible for President Park to yield a breakthrough in the current predicament.

“Unless the opposition parties respond to the offer for a negotiation, it appears pointless for President Park to take the podium again,” said a core official from the ruling party during a telephone interview with this newspaper. “We are considering other ways to reaffirm Han’s remarks on early retirement.” In other words, the president is trying to find a bypass to get across her message other than another TV speech or press conference. This means that the presidential office is already considering impeachment as a constant and is making preparations for the aftermath.

The non-mainstream of the ruling party gathers that at least 35 or more lawmakers will vote for impeachment. They predict that the impeachment motion will be passed with ease. On the other hand, the mainstream members are planning to persuade other policymakers against impeachment to the last minute. The ruling party’s general meeting will be yet another watershed point for impeachment process. Opposition parties are using both carrot and stick with lawmakers such as Choo Mi-ae, the leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, making a conciliatory appeal that “the lawmakers of the Saenuri Party should only listen to the voice of the people and themselves and vote for impeachment,” and others including Rep. Yun Gwan-seok pressuring the ruling party with an outright threat that “anyone who votes against impeachment will go down as traitor in history.”

Senior statesmen of the country argue that Korean politics must prepare for the period that will unfold after impeachment. “If impeachment motion is passed, it means one pillar to handle state affairs will be gone. Therefore, another pillar that is the National Assembly will have to convene a consultative body immediately to contain the political mess that will follow,” said former House Speaker Kim Won-gi. “The first challenge will be to judge whether the job of acting president should go to Prime Minister Hwang Gyo-an.”



Jae-Myoung Lee egija@donga.com · Su-Young Hong gaea@donga.com