South Korea’s first female President, Park Geun-hye has been removed from the office by the country’s Constitutional Court after an impeachment motion was upheld on Friday. Park was impeached in December, 2016 on charges of receiving bribe from businesses and abusing her powers in a scheme with her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil.
The allegations levelled towards Park by Constitutional Court include bribery, failure to protect citizens during the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster and violation of sovereignty for leaking confidential information.
South Korea constitutional court dismisses impeached president Park Geun-hye: AFP pic.twitter.com/YuddRYm1R2
— ANI (@ANI_news) March 10, 2017
The decision to uphold the impeachment of a President is a first in South Korea’s history. After the scandal came into light, citizens of South Korea took to the streets to protest a sprawling corruption scandal that shook the government.
Park’s powers were suspended in December after a legislative impeachment vote. However, Park Geun-hye has apologised but denied any wrongdoing.
While awaiting the decision by the Constitutional Court, Park continued to live in the presidential Blue House. Interestingly, the Blue House house had been her childhood home. She first moved in at the age of 9 and left it nearly two decades later after her mother and father were assassinated.
Park’s loss of power is expected to shift South Korean politics to the opposition in a major way.
