Korea’s Park Impeached as Voters Vent Anger Over Corruption
- Park suspended from power until constitutional court’s ruling
- Mass street protests demand reform of politics and business
South Korea Votes to Impeach Park
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Undone by an influence-peddling scandal, South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye was impeached by parliament on Friday amid a wave of anger that could overturn the nation’s politics and increase pressure on some of Asia’s biggest companies to reform.
With hundreds of police forming a wall to hold back thousands of demonstrators outside the National Assembly in Seoul, lawmakers voted 234 to 56 in favor of impeachment, easily meeting the requirement for a two-thirds majority as dozens from Park’s own party voted against her. Protesters singing the Christmas carol “Feliz Navidad,” with the lyrics changed to "not Park Geun-hye," broke into cheers in a carnival atmosphere.