South Korean Opposition Moves to Impeach Troubled President

South Korea’s biggest opposition party said it will put forward an impeachment motion against the country’s president on Thursday. President Park Geun-Hye has faced widespread calls to step down where millions of protesters have come out in street demonstrations over her involvement in a corruption scandal.

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South Korea’s main opposition group, the Democratic Party, said it would file the motion for impeaching Park, where a vote is expected to take place as early as next week in the national Assembly.

"We will seek to vote on the impeachment motion as early as December 2, and no later than December 9," said Woo Sang-Ho, floor leader of the Democratic Party to South Korea’s Yonhap media outlet.

On Sunday, prosecutors ruled that Park had colluded with Choi Soon-sil, a lifelong friend. Choi, who has been labeled as a “Korean Rasputin,” is accused of wielding undue influence in the government and of personally profiting from her relation with Park, through extorting money from companies as well as giving academic privileges for her daughter.

Park, the country’s first female president has been accused of leaking official state documents to Choi. Park previously admitted to leaking some documents and has repeatedly apologized publicly over the scandal and vowed to take part in investigations against her.

While a number of opposition parties were previously hesitant about pushing for impeachment, on Wednesday Kim Moo-Sung from Park’s ruling party claimed that she must be impeached for breaching the country’s constitution.

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A series of protests started in October, where millions have taken to the streets in some of the largest anti-government protests in history, calling for Park to leave her post and saying that she no longer has the mandate to lead the country because of the scandal.

Park's popularity has been polled at a record-low 5 percent in the wake of the scandal and protests. If the vote to impeach passes the national assembly, six of the nine judges in the Constitutional Court would be required to finalize the impeachment.

The legal team for Park, however, says that investigative probes against the president are politically motivated and are based on “imagination and guesswork.”