Park Geun-hye’s Impeachment and Trial

The Constitutional Court decided to remove former President Park Geun-hye from office on March tenth. She became the first president in the nation’s history to be ousted by an impeachment motion. The National Assembly on December ninth of last year had passed a motion to impeach Park and referred the motion to the Constitutional Court.

Park’s impeachment trial got off to a rocky start. She did not attend the first hearing of her trial on January third. With her absence, the court, focused on other key figures involved in the influence-peddling scandal, including the central figure and Park’s long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil as well as Park’s close aides An Jong-beom and Jeong Ho-seong.

During the impeachment trial, the Constitutional Court saw its president Park Han-chul retire on January 31st and Justice Lee Jung-mi stepping in as acting president.



The court worked arduously, holding trials three times a week before deciding on March tenth to uphold the parliamentary impeachment of Park. With the court decision, Park was removed from office and a presidential election was held.

After being ousted, Park was arrested and indicted on April 17th on bribery and other charges. That corruption trial began on May 23rd. In October, the former president declared that she would boycott trial proceedings in protest of the Seoul Central District Court’s decision to extend her detainment period. All seven members on Park’s legal team also resigned in protest of the court’s decision. The Seoul court then appointed five public attorneys to defend the former president during her trial.

Other key figures in the corruption scandal that rattled the nation include former presidential chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who are also being tried in court.

Photo : Yonhap News, KBS News

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