SKorea: 24-hour impeachment vote countdown triggered

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - Weeks of political wrangling over South Korea’s power abuse scandal have reached a crucial moment, as President Park Geun-hye is set to face an impeachment vote after the opposition bloc officially triggered a 24-hour countdown Thursday.

The country’s three liberal parties delayed presenting their motion last week due to concerns it might not achieve the required two-thirds parliamentary majority.

Now opposition lawmakers are so bold they have vowed to resign en masse if the secret ballot from 2 p.m. (0500GMT) Friday afternoon falls short.

Public pressure is also very much against the president, who has endured record-low unpopularity based on her single-digit approval ratings and vast protests demanding her resignation.

But the ruling party holds the key to what happens next because the opposition bloc needs nearly 30 conservative votes to go their way.

While there are enough rebel lawmakers who identify with the ruling camp’s anti-Park faction, there has been an ongoing dispute about the motion’s inclusion of the president’s actions on the day of the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy -- the disaster, which claimed 304 lives, has been a hugely divisive political issue.

If the impeachment motion passes, the Constitutional Court would then have 180 days to decide whether to oust Park and prompt a snap election.