Asia

South Korean opposition seeking to impeach Park next Friday

Associated Press
Published | Updated

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, center left, escorted by Seomun Market Merchant Association President Kim Yong-oh, tours the Seomun Market which was burned by a recent fire in Daegu, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. Park has visited the rural market in her first public appearance out among her citizens since a huge political scandal exploded in October. (Kim Jun-bum/Yonhap via AP) (The Associated Press)

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, center, is escorted by Seomun Market Merchant Association President Kim Yong-oh, second left, during her visit to the Seomun Market which was burned by a recent fire in Daegu, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. Park has visited the rural market in her first public appearance out among her citizens since a huge political scandal exploded in October. (Kim Jun-bum/Yonhap via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this photo taken on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016, South Korean protesters hold up candles during a rally calling for South Korean President Park Geun-hye to step down in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea's main opposition parties said Friday they will push for a vote next week on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) (The Associated Press)

South Korea's main opposition parties say they will push for a vote next Friday on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment.

The opposition had earlier planned to call for a vote this week on whether to impeach Park over a snowballing scandal involving a shadowy longtime confidante. But they later squabbled over when to do so after Park made a conditional offer to resign.

The main opposition Democratic Party said it met with two smaller opposition parties on Friday and agreed to put an impeachment motion to a floor vote on Dec. 9.

The opposition lacks enough lawmakers to pass Park's impeachment on its own. Dissenters in Park's ruling party say they'll vote for her impeachment if she fails to announce by next Wednesday that she will step down voluntarily in April.