South Korea president impeachment vote delayed

The impeachment vote against South Korea's scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye has been pushed back at least a week. 

Park Geun-Hye speaks addresses the nation at the presidential Blue House in Seoul in November Reuters/Jeon Heon-Kyun/Pool

Lawmakers of president Park Geun-hye's Saenuri party have called for parliamentary discussions before holding an impeachment vote.

Initially scheduled for Friday, the move now postpones the vote until at least next week.

Park's surprise offer to step down, during a televised address on Tuesday, seems to have convinced some of her party members who initially favored impeachment to let her step down instead.

Why is Park under investigation?

The president has been accused of corruption and colluding in the criminal activities of long-time friend and confidant Choi Soon-sil.

Choi allegedly used her presidential connections to extort millions of dollars from South Korean companies. She is also accused of obtaining classified documents from Park, without having the proper security clearance.

Choi was formally charged on 20 November with abuse of authority, coercion and attempted fraud.

Park’s back-and-forth with investigators

The president had initially agreed to cooperate with investigators, but on Monday her lawyer rejected prosecutors’ requests for questioning.

Her resignation offer, yet another roundabout, is seen by analysts as a way to stall the impeachment proceedings.

“President Park is really in the game of playing for time at the moment,” said Simon Baptist, chief economist of the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“It’s certainly a tactic that plays to her advantage,” he estimated. “The processes to run through and impeachment and move to a new election in South Korea are relatively cumbersome.”

Park also said in her televised address that she would only step down “once lawmakers come up with measures to transfer power in a way that minimizes any power vacuum and chaos in governance.”

However, Korean law already outlines what happens in case of presidential resignation or impeachment.

“There is no issue of orderly procedure,” said Koen de Ceuster, professor of Modern Korean History at Lieden University in the Netherlands.

“The law is very clear on how this should happen. If she steps down, then the prime minister temporarily takes her place, and within 60 days a presidential election should be organized.”

Park’s impeachment would need two-thirds of Parliament’s approval to go through.

If passed, the Constitutional Court would have up to six months to review it. Six of its nine judges would then have to approve it and organize presidential elections within 60 days.