[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]
South Korean President Park Geun-hye received a verdict of political death Friday after parliament endorsed a bill to impeach and dethrone the disgraced leader for her explicit role in a corruption scandal.
Park's impeachment was approved in a vote of 234 against 56. Park's presidential duty will be suspended immediately, but there will be no administrative vacuum because Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will serve as the acting head of state.
The constitutional court will review the legitimacy of Park's impeachment in a time-consuming process which may take up to six months. A presidential election should be held within two months after the court approved impeachment. The election was originally set for December next year.
The vote followed a series of anti-government protests that have seen millions of citizens staging peaceful candle-lit rallies in an unprecedented demonstration of people power.
Since late October, the scandal has put South Korea into a political quagmire, paralyzing state affairs and aggravating economic woes. Many citizens have been left with a deep sense of malaise and frustration. But they now feel proud for opening a new chapter in South Korea's turbulent political history.
Park, who took office in early 2013 as South Korea's first female president, has flatly refused to step down by herself, although she admitted she should be blamed for mismanagement. Her followers in parliament have insisted she should step down voluntarily by the end of April.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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