S. Korean parties plan impeachment motion

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, March 08, 2004

S. Korean parties plan impeachment motion

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South Korean opposition parties plan to file an impeachment motion against President Roh Moo-hyun after he was found to have violated election laws with comments aimed at influencing parliamentary polls, opposition officials said Monday.

The opposition Millennium Democratic Party had said last week it would try to impeach the president if he did not apologize by Sunday for violating election laws during a news conference late last month.

Roh has yet to do so. Officials at the MDP and the fellow opposition Grand National Party said on condition of anonymity Monday that the parties planned to submit an impeachment motion to parliament on Tuesday.

Last week, the country's election watchdog ruled that Roh violated election rules with comments that could unfairly influence next month's parliamentary election, although it found that Roh's infraction was minor.

Roh had responded to a journalist's question last month by calling for "overwhelming support" for the minor Uri Party, which backs the president.

Presidential spokesman Yoon Sock-joong said Roh's staff was preparing a defense should the motion pass, but dismissed the move as political posturing ahead of the April 15 parliamentary elections.

"We believe this is politically motivated, and we cannot give into such pressure," Yoon said.

Roh, who took office in February 2003, has no party affiliation, but has said he plans to join the liberal Uri Party, which has 47 seats in the 273-member National Assembly. The MDP has 62 and the GNP 146, giving the two parties 208 seats, or three-quarters the assembly's total.

Roh's office issued a statement calling for a revision that would allow him to express political views more freely.

Roh is grappling with an opposition-controlled Assembly critical of the president, and hopes the Uri Party can expand its ranks in nationwide polls slated for April 15.

A simple majority of the National Assembly is needed to introduce the impeachment bill, and a two-thirds majority is needed to pass it. If the motion is approved, the matter is passed to the country's Constitutional Court, where six of nine judges must rule against Roh to unseat the leader.

If Roh is dismissed from office, Prime Minister Koh Gun would serve as interim president. An impeachment motion against a South Korean president has never made it as far as the Constitutional Court.

Source: Agencies

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