- Joined
- Jun 21, 2016
"South Korean President Park Geun-hye finds out Friday whether a court will remove her from office over a corruption scandal or allow her to complete her term ... If the court unseats Park, the country’s election law requires a presidential vote within 60 days, which likely means May 9. The ruling would instantly strip Park of her powers and also her immunity against prosecution. She could be interrogated by prosecutors seeking to indict her on criminal charges. Park has repeatedly refused to be interviewed by prosecutors over the scandal in past months, but that will be harder to do if prosecutors have an arrest warrant. If a presidential election is triggered, opinion polls favor liberal opposition politician Moon Jae-in, who lost the 2012 race to Park, to succeed her. A Moon presidency could bring significant changes after a decade of conservative rule. He stresses the need for dialogue with belligerent, nuclear-armed North Korea, which would be a dramatic departure from Park’s hard line. Moon also vows to 'reconsider' the South’s plans to deploy this year an advanced U.S. anti-missile system ... If Park is reinstated ... The court restoring Park’s powers would be a huge victory for tens of thousands of her conservative supporters who rallied passionately near the court in recent weeks ... Some experts worry that Park’s reinstatement could trigger a violent reaction from the millions of protesters who have been occupying the streets of major cities nationwide in the past several months. The anti-Park rallies have been mostly peaceful, but some protesters said their 'candles will turn into torches' if the court refuses to uphold Park’s impeachment. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Thursday put its forces on high alert and deployed thousands of officers and hundreds of buses in the streets surrounding the court."
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/03/09/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/look-south-koreas-presidential-impeachment-verdict-expected-friday/#.WMGlGYWcH3M
"Police tightened security around government offices in Seoul on Thursday amid growing tension one day before the Constitutional Court's ruling on the president's impeachment ... Supporters of Park began rallies early in the morning chanting for the reinstatement of scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye as justices appeared at the court in central Seoul to prepare for the ruling slated for Friday 11 a.m. Police have surrounded the court with 360 buses and mobilized some 8,400 officers nearby for contingencies. Park's opponents held a press conference at an office of a local labor union in Seoul and urged for the permanent ouster of the president. They have waged candlelight rallies since October when the corruption scandal broke. They are planning to gather in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul at 7 p.m. and march towards the Constitutional Court. Lee Cheol-seong, chief of the National Police Agency, said more forces will be mobilized Friday and ordered officers to deal sternly with those who attempt to harm justice. 'We will dispatch enough police forces to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, the Constitutional Court and the National Assembly,' he said during a video conference with senior officials. 'Those who try to hamper the court's ruling or use violence to disobey the decision should be dealt with strictly' ... The ruling on her impeachment will be delivered by the court's acting chief Lee Jung-mi. Park is not expected to attend the hearing, which will be televised live from the main courtroom."
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2017/03/09/0301000000AEN20170309010651315.html
Date/Time in Seoul:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/south-korea/seoul
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw7c_8BNS4E[/youtube][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P41zjlC0OgQ[/youtube]
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Either great instability or a great political shift can be anticipated for ROK. Perhaps both. If Park's impeachment is upheld, this will mean that if America is determined to strike DPRK in the near-term, it will likely need to execute the attack prior to Moon taking office. A Moon presidency could also present an inability for the west to maintain THAAD in Korea, or to even maintain the hostile policy toward DPRK at its current degree of effectiveness, though the strategy is not presently effective. Reinstating Park could lead to unrest and insurgency potentially supported by DPRK and PRC, and ousting Park could lead to unrest and insurgency potentially supported by USA. A Moon presidency could even lead to, in the long-term, ROK normalizing relations with DPRK and eventual peaceful reunification. Regardless of the court's verdict in the coming hours, an eventual Moon presidency may be unavoidable, without a high-risk concerted effort to prevent it.