South Korea’s President Park Geun-Hye has been impeached as the Court Justices have unanimously upheld the impeachment.
President Park Geun Hye faced a court trial today to hear the verdict of whether she would be impeached or reinstated. The decision was streamed live on television as well as social media channels.
Park Geun Hye has now officially been impeached with the Court Justices deciding unanimously to uphold the initial impeachment. Bloomberg News reported, “The court has found Park did abuse her power and break the law to help Choi extort money through her foundations.”
“Some more details from the part that actually got Park ousted: The court found that Park hid Choi’s involvement in government affairs and attacked anyone who tried to criticize that arrangement, including the press.
The infractions occurred consistently over the course of the president’s entire term and the president did not show an intention to uphold the Constitution.”
— Bloomberg News
In December of 2016, President Park was stripped of her presidential powers after overwhelming evidence of abuse was released to the public. The evidence showed that she conspired with Choi Soon-Sil in embezzling millions of dollars from businesses for their own financial benefit.
She had also given Choi Soon-Sil access to highly confidential government documents. While President Park did not initially step down, millions of South Koreans protested for months forcing her hand.
“Park has been stripped of her office and the immunity that comes with it. She’ll probably find herself subject to investigation by prosecutors, including for bribery charges.”
— Bloomberg News
