Park impeachment still a go: Opposition

Opposition parties Tuesday reiterated their commitment to impeaching President Park Geun-hye, dismissing Park’s pledge to abandon her presidency as a ploy to avoid the looming parliamentary impeachment.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and the runner-up People’s Party accused the president of not giving a specific timeline for her resignation to deflect the people’s attention away from the impeachment process.

In a speech earlier in the day, the president asked the National Assembly to decide the fate of her presidency, but did not specify when she would leave her post. Park said that she would follow whatever process the legislative body comes up with to ensure a smooth transfer of power.

“In short, it is a tactic to distract and avoid impeachment,” said Rep. Choo Mi-ae, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, during a general assembly with her fellow lawmakers. “We remain united as one and will continue to push for impeaching her.”

Likening Park’s speech as a “declaration of war” against the people, Choo went on to attack the president for refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing in the nepotism scandal ensnaring her and her confidante Choi Soon-sil.

In a five-minute press conference without any Q&A session, President Park reiterated that she has never sought personal gains during her presidency. Refusing to respond to reporters’ questions about her involvement with the scandal, she said she would hold a separate session later on.

People’s Party interim leader Rep. Park Jie-won called Park “irresponsible,” saying that the president has engineered a plot to undermine the public and legislative efforts to remove her from office.

“It seems to me that Park doesn’t have any sense of conscience. Her actions are so politically motivated,” interim leader Park Jie-won told reporters. “It’s like getting hit by the president with a sledgehammer. I can guarantee that the president will never resign.”

The opposition bloc’s response came as the National Assembly inches closer to passing an impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye this Friday. The main opposition Democratic Party and runner-up People’s Party have tentatively agreed to approve the motion during Friday’s plenary session.

By Yeo Jun-suk  (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)