[HAL9000]

Background - South Korean Assembly begins unprecedented impeachment vote against president

[Poohbah]

Ruh Roh!

[HAL9000]

South Korean parliament impeaches President Roh

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean parliament voted Friday to remove President Roh Moo-hyun from office on illegal electioneering and incompetence charges, in the country's first presidential impeachment bid.

Roh's presidential powers will be suspended as the matter is referred to the Constitutional Court for final approval to unseat the leader.

The impeachment passed by a vote of 193 to 2.

[OldFriend]

There goes one of Kerry's foreign supporters!!!

[Semper Paratus]

When is the Korean VP going to call Roh the greatest President Korea ever had?

[Spruce]

Let's hope that little nutjob up north doesn't do domething stupid.

[PureSolace]

Which south korean party is more Pro U.S. ??? is it Roh's Uri? Or is it another... I know they have recently been sending troops to help with peacekeeping and econstruction in Iraq... Anyone have the history and current politics of the day in South Korea handy.. Please post them here. Thanks :) (I just wanna know where everyone stands before I choose a side on this issue.)

[NormsRevenge]

Some pics over at Yahoo News Photos of the events leading up to the impeachment vote.

South Korean lawmakers from the Uri Party (without coats), who back President Roh Moo-hyun, scuffle with lawmakers from opposition parties (in jackets) as the latter attempt to occupy the seat of the speaker at parliament in Seoul, March 12, 2004. Opposition parliamentarians sought unsuccessfully to storm the occupied speaker's podium early Friday to try to ensure they could hold an unprecedented vote on impeaching South Korean President Roh, local media said. KOREA OUT NO ARCHIVE REUTERS/Lee Jong-Ho

Protesters surround a South Korean man after a self-immolation attempt during a rally supporting President Roh Moo-hyun in front of parliament March 11, 2004. Some 1,000 protesters were holding a rally supporting Roh who declined on Thursday to apologize for election campaign remarks that prompted his opponents to try to impeach him. The man survived, witnesses said. REUTERS/You Sung-Ho

[XHogPilot]

ping

[mrsmith]

South Korea - Constitution
"Article 65 [Impeachment]
(1) In case the President, the Prime Minister, members of the State Council, heads of Executive Ministries, judges of the Constitutional Court, judges, members of the Central Election Management Committee, members of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and other public officials designated by law have violated the Constitution or other laws in the performance of official duties, the National Assembly may pass motions for their impeachment.
(2) A motion for impeachment prescribed in Paragraph (1) may be proposed by one-third or more of the total members of the National Assembly, and requires a concurrent vote of a majority of the total members of the National Assembly for passage: Provided, that a motion for the impeachment of the President shall be proposed by a majority of the total members of the National Assembly and approved by two-thirds or more of the total members of the National Assembly.
(3) Any person against whom a motion for impeachment has been passed is suspended from exercising his power until the impeachment has been adjudicated.
(4) A decision on impeachment does not extend further than removal from public office. However, it does not exempt the person impeached from civil or criminal liability."

Now it goes to the nine member Constitutional Court:

"2) The Constitutional Court is composed of nine adjudicators qualified to be court judges, and they are appointed by the President.
(3) Among the adjudicators referred to in Paragraph (2), three are appointed from persons selected by the National Assembly, and three appointed from persons nominated by the Chief Justice.
(4) The head of the Constitutional Court is appointed by the President from among the adjudicators with the consent of the National Assembly. "

[CFC__VRWC]

My memory on this is very hazy, but I recall a huge political scandal in South Korea about a year(?) or so ago that involved the Hyundai Corporation and the South Korean government making some sort of under-the-table payoffs to the Kerry-supporting "Dear Leader" in the North. Is this impeachment vote related in any way to this?

193-2 to impeach, wow. I'd say Roh's a crispy critter. He was quite anti-US there for a while, cozying up to North Korea and the "reconciliation" scam they're running, which plays on the very real desire by South Koreans to help their brethren in the North, but of course under Kim Jong Il is nothing more than a means to subvert South Korea's government and culture and eventually soften them up for a takeover. But once Donald Rumsfeld started making noise about withdrawing our troops, Roh clammed up with the "Yankee Imperialist Dogs" rhetoric very quickly.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep ! FOX News mentioned this about half an hour ago or so ...

[tallhappy]

Wow.

[tubavil]

Ruh-Roh!

[CT]

Hey, two living Impeached Presidents!

Roh, meet The Sink Emperor! You both have something in common.

[Remember_Salamis]

This is what happens when you elect a leftist. Lee hoi-Chang, the conservative, only lost by a point and a half in the December 2002 elections. Lee wanted to end the "sunshine policy" and slap sanction on the North. He and his Grand National Party (GNP) are ardent supporters of the Global War on Terror. What's worst about the whole thing is that Lee would have won in a walk if the US Army's 2nd Infantry Division on the peninsula had a decent PR department. What happened was that Two soldiers accidentally ran over and killed a little south korean girl in the summer of 2002. But, the Army didn't say whether it was an accident, or criminal, or anything for a week. As a result, conspiracy theories started flying all over the peninsula about a cover-up. Then, in October, the court martial found both soldiers not guilty and a wave of anti-americanism swept the country. Roh emerged from the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) Primary and started spouting rhetoric about reducing US troops on the peninsula and "reexamining" the US-ROK relationship. I guess Roh reaps what he sows.

[SunkenCiv]

The impeachment passed by a vote of 193 to 2.

Could it be he's lost some support? ;') So much for South Korea's "first North Korean president."

---

to: AmericanInTokyo; ASA Vet; atomicpossum; bayourod; Brilliant; CFC__VRWC; ConservativeMan55; CT; Delta 21; earplug; expatpat; finnman69; GretchenEE; HAL9000; hellinahandcart; JackRyanCIA; JasonC; JohnnyZ; Mad_Tom_Rackham; maro; MD_Willington_1976; MeekOneGOP; Mia T; mrsmith; NormsRevenge; OldFriend; Poohbah; PureSolace; RWR8189; Semper Paratus; SevenofNine; Shermy; Spruce; StriperSniper; tallhappy; tubavil; VOA; XHogPilot

---

[BillyBoy]

How DARE they intrude on the South Korean President's PRIVATE life!! It's between him, his family, and his God. IMPEACH the special prosecutor appointed to investigate his corruption. That's the guy who should REALLY go to jail!!! How dare they try to overturn THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!! Read the polls! Look how good THE ECONOMY is in South Korea!!

Oh, unless his party affliation is Republican... < /MOVEON.ORG>

[OahuBreeze]

hmmmm -- think everyone's a bit too jubilant. Across the board, polls in South Korea show 60% and up disagree with the impeachment. Roh's defacto party, Uri Party, has gained a lot of ground at expense of opposition parties GNP and MDP.

The actual thing the GNP and MDP impeached Roh on is very grey (violating political neutrality of executive office by saying he would do everything he could, within the law, to get Uri party members elected in April elections...). In my opinion, Constitutional Court will reinstate Roh's powers within a month, and Uri party will likely gain considerable number of seats in April elections. Of course, numerous things could change the equation -- not least of which being the puffy tyrant up north.