South Korea’s Constitutional Court must rule by June on whether to uphold the impeachment of beleaguered President Park Geun-hye. South Korea has been embroiled in scandal for months over Park’s alleged collusion with an unsanctioned adviser, her controversial friend Choi Soon-sil.
If the court backs the National Assembly’s vote in December to impeach Park, who was accused of bribery, extortion and abuse of power, South Korea will have to hold an election within 60 days of the ruling. Most analysts and legal experts in Seoul have indicated that the court will likely decide to remove Park from office, potentially as early as this month, triggering the next stage in South Korea’s political saga.
Even before the impeachment last year, opposition parties were jostling for ways to cast the disgraced leader as a symbol of the years of failed and corrupt conservative politics under the ruling Saenuri Party. The upheaval has resulted in a number of stunning developments in the political scene.