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Agence France-Presse

South Korea’s scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye said on Tuesday she would accept the result of a looming and possibly lengthy impeachment process, but defied pressure to resign immediately.
An opposition-sponsored impeachment motion is almost certain to be adopted by the national assembly on Friday, with some 30 rebel MPs from Park’s Saenuri party saying they will vote in favour.
The motion would then require the approval of the Constitutional Court, whose deliberations could take up to six months.
“Even if the impeachment bill is passed, I am resolved to continue calmly for the country and the people, while watching the Constitutional Court procedures,” Park was quoted as saying by Saenuri parliamentary floor leader Chung Jin-suk.
During an hour-long meeting with the president, Chung said he had told her that public sentiment had forced the Saenuri party to withdraw an earlier proposal for Park to step down voluntarily in April.
“She nodded and said she accepted my stance,” Chung said.
Watch: Park says she’ll resign


Millions of South Koreans have taken to the streets of Seoul and other cities in a series of weekly mass protests demanding Park’s ousting.
During the latest rally on Saturday, there was particular anger directed against the Saenuri’s resignation proposal, with protesters saying it was aimed at buying Park time and avoiding impeachment. As a result the party withdrew its whip aimed at defeating Friday’s motion and said its MPs would be allowed to vote freely according to their conscience.

Hwang Young-cheul, one member of an anti-Park faction within the party, said the idea that the president could step down in April had “already been rejected by the people”.
“All preparations have been made that are necessary to ensure the impeachment motion be passed,” Hwang said. The scandal that has engulfed Park and paralysed her administration has focused on her friendship with long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil.
Is South Korea’s President Park a cultist?
Choi has been charged with meddling in state affairs and using her Blue House connections to force dozens of conglomerates to donate around US$70 million to two foundations she controlled.
In a first for a sitting South Korean president, Park has been named a “suspect” by prosecutors investigating Choi. While she retains the presidency, Park cannot be charged with a criminal offence except insurrection or treason, but she would lose that immunity once she leaves office.



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In South Korea, Samsung billionaire Lee Jae-yong acquitted in succession suit related to 2015 merger

Park Geun-hye

South Korea’s embattled leader Park Geun-hye expresses readiness to step down in April

South Korea's President Park Geun-hye. File photo: Reuters

Supporters of South Korean President Park Geun-Hye wave the national flags during a rally against the impeachment of the president outside the ruling Saenuri Party in Seoul on December 6, 2016. The impeachment of South Korea's scandal-hit president, Park Geun-Hye, looked certain on December 6 as dissident lawmakers in her ruling party said they would support an opposition motion calling for her ouster. / AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-Je

File photo taken in Seoul on Nov. 29, 2016, shows South Korean President Park Geun Hye expressing her readiness to resign from her post before her term ends in February in 2018. According to Chung Jin Suk, floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, the president showed her readiness to step down in April during talks with him in Seoul on Dec. 6, 2016. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

‘She gives shamans a bad name’: South Korean mystics claim presidential scandal has tarnished their reputations

Shaman Shin Joong-in performs a ritual in which offerings of food are made to spirits. Photo: AFP

In this photo taken on November 8, 2016, shaman Shin Joong-In conducts a ritual in a trance-like state as he makes offerings of food to the spirits at a shamanic centre in Yangju, north of Seoul. Practitioners of the centuries-old spiritual tradition are furious that their reputation has been tainted by association with the corruption scandal involving a close friend of the president, Choi Soon-Sil. Shamanism is deeply ingrained in Korean culture, and despite living in one of the world's most technologically advanced countries, many Koreans still consult shamans -- as intercessors with the spirit world -- for medical reasons, divination, or personal advice. / AFP PHOTO / Ed JONES

epa05628461 Demonstrators protest for the resignation of South Korea's president Park Geun-Hye on Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, 12 November 2016. Park is being accused of allowing her confidant Choi Soon Sil to interfere with government affairs, despite the fact she does not hold public office. EPA/GREGOR FISCHER

(161104) -- SEOUL, Nov. 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye addresses the nation at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 4, 2016. South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Friday that she will accept an investigation into herself, if necessary, by prosecutors over a scandal surrounding Choi Soon-sil, the president's longtime confidante suspected of intervening into state affairs. (Xinhua/Blue House) (djj)

In this photo taken on November 8, 2016, shaman Shin Joong-In bites the head from a live chicken as he performs a ritual in which offerings are made to spirits, at a shamanic centre in Yangju, north of Seoul. Practitioners of the centuries-old spiritual tradition are furious that their reputation has been tainted by association with the corruption scandal involving a close friend of the president, Choi Soon-Sil. Shamanism is deeply ingrained in Korean culture, and despite living in one of the world's most technologically advanced countries, many Koreans still consult shamans -- as intercessors with the spirit world -- for medical reasons, divination, or personal advice. / AFP PHOTO / Ed JONES / TO GO WITH "SKorea-politics-scandal-religion-shamanism, FOCUS" by JUNG Ha-Won

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