S. Korean President to 'calmly accept' impeachment

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday said she will calmly accept impeachment if it is passed in the scheduled parliamentary vote three days from now.

She made the comments during a one-hour meeting in the presidential office with the ruling Saenuri Party's chairman and floor leader, Xinhua news agency reported.

Saenuri Party whip Chung Jin-suk said Park continues to consider accepting the party's call to let the President resign by next April to hold an early presidential election two months later.

Park said she will calmly accept the impeachment if it is passed through the unicameral assembly slated for this Friday, vowing to make every effort she can if the impeachment bill is approved.

Opposition and independent lawmakers handed in the bill to impeach the first South Korean female leader last Saturday.

As there are 172 legislators from the opposition bloc, at least 28 Saenuri lawmakers must endorse the bill to overcome the two-thirds threshold of the 300-seat parliament.

Park also agreed to allow the governing party lawmakers to freely vote on the impeachment motion.

Tens of lawmakers of the party's faction, who are not loyal to Park, have agreed to vote for the impeachment, raising possibility for the passage of the bill.

Saenuri Party chief Lee Jung-hyun estimated that Park seemed to prefer the April resignation to the impeachment, but the President is expected to be stripped of all powers if the bill is passed through parliament.

For the final approval, the impeachment motion is required to be upheld by the constitutional court though Park will be suspended immediately after the parliamentary passage.

The constitutional court will have as long as 180 days to rule on it, and two-thirds of the nine-judge court must endorse it to formally impeach the scandal-hit President.

--IANS

py/dg