SOUTH KOREA: KOREANS RALLY FOR AND AGAINST IMPEACHMENT MOTION REGISTERED AGAINST PRESIDENT ROH MOO-HYUN

Record ID: 215516

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: KOREANS RALLY FOR AND AGAINST IMPEACHMENT MOTION REGISTERED AGAINST PRESIDENT ROH MOO-HYUN
  • Date: 9th March 2004
  • Summary: (W3) SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (MARCH 9, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CHAMBER (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER PARK KWAN-YONG SAYING: "(This motion should be put to vote) between twenty four hours and seventy two hours after it is reported to our main session." 0.20 3. MORE OF CHAMBER 0.26
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Reuters ID: LVA5IOBQM6RHURN9D7MI2Y1F4IQL
  • Story Text: A day after an impeachment motion against President
    Roh Moo-hyun was registered with parliament, South
    Koreans raise their voices for and against the bill.


    After an impeachment bill against South Korean
    President Roh Moo-hyun was officially registered with
    parliament Tuesday (March 9), South Koreans rallied for and
    against the motion on Wednesday (March 10) near parliament.

    On Tuesday, the main opposition Grand National Party
    and the smaller Millennium Democratic Party registered an
    impeachment bill that set the political clock ticking for a
    possible vote from 0930 GMT on Wednesday until the same
    time on Friday.

    "(This motion should be put to vote) between 24 hours
    and 72 hours after it is reported to our main session."
    National Assembly Speaker Park Kwan-yong proclaimed at the
    chamber on Tuesday evening.

    Roh has scheduled a news conference for 0100 GMT on Thursday,
    (March 11) meaning the opposition will have time
    to hear his comments before they decide whether to vote to
    unseat him for illegal campaigning for the breakaway Uri
    Party that supports him.

    Uri Party parliamentarians were taking turns to camp
    out in the unicameral National Assembly to try to thwart
    the vote. They have been holding a sit-down protest at the
    chamber since Tuesday night.

    "We will use all means to stop and shut down the
    impeachment motion," said Uri Party member Kim Young-choon.

    South Korea's media urged politicians to stay cool and
    avoid plunging Asia's fourth-largest economy into
    constitutional chaos weeks before an April 15 parliamentary
    election and amid a crisis over neighbouring communist
    North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

    Financial markets seemed unperturbed, with analysts
    betting a vote would fail to secure the needed majority.

    South Korean citizens were divided on the impeachment issue.

    "They should work hard to revive our economy, but they
    are just trying hard for their parties' benefit," said
    35-year-old Lee Dae-young.

    "He (President Roh) should have worked for the country
    consistently, but he always changed his attitudes according
    to the circumstances," said 52-year-old Cho Wang-hyon.

    The impeachment motion came shortly after a second
    round of six-way talks to solve North Korea's nuclear
    weapons programme ended inconclusively in Beijing. South
    Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters that the
    motion will not affect nuclear talks.

    "(The impeachment motion) has absolutely no affect on
    the six-way talks and the related countries will continue
    its discussions," Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said.

    Roh last month marked his first year in office, a rocky
    12 months in which he has seen his ratings dwindle,
    grappled with North Korea and sought to tease the
    export-driven economy into full recovery after a dip into
    recession.

    Roh's Blue House office pledged not to bow to the
    mounting pressure against the 57-year-old former human
    rights lawyer.

    The prime minister, the veteran Goh Kun, would stand in
    for Roh if his powers were suspended while the
    Constitutional Court ruled on impeachment, a process that
    could take six months.

    The two main opposition parties have a combined
    206-seat majority but it is far from clear all would vote
    for impeachment. Many may wonder how their vote would play
    with constituents.

    The Blue House said Roh's news conference on Thursday
    was to talk about an investigation into illicit funding of
    political parties by South Korea's "chaebol" conglomerates
    during the 2002 presidential election campaign. But it is
    seems unlikely he would not mention the impeachment.


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