South Korean lawmakers on Friday kicked off a historic vote on a bill to impeach embattled President Park Geun-hye over corruption scandal involving herself and her longtime confidante.
After a short speech by a legislator to explain the impeachment proposal, 300 lawmakers moved to vote on the impeachment motion put forward by opposition and independent lawmakers last Saturday.
It is expected to take three quarters of an hour to cast ballots and count votes as legislators are required to vote one by one on printed ballot paper inside closed booths.
The regular session, which is scheduled to end on Friday, started at about 3 p.m. local time in the main chamber of the National Assembly in capital Seoul.
S Korean president to calmly accept impeachment if passed
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that she will calmly accept the impeachment if it is passed in the scheduled parliamentary vote three days later.
Her comments were made during the one-hour meeting with the ruling Saenuri Partys chairman and floor leader that kicked off at about 2:30 p.m. local time.
Saenuri Party whip Chung Jin-suk told reporters after coming back to the National Assembly building that President Park has continued to consider accepting the partys call to let the president resign by next April to hold an early presidential election two months later. >>>
