South Korea’s impeached ex-president Park Geun-Hye left the Blue House Sunday, issuing an apology for not completing her full term as she arrived back at her private residence.
Park vacated the presidential complex, accompanied by tight security, two days after the Constitutional Court verdict removing her from office over a massive corruption scandal.
The court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach Park, effectively removing her from office over a corruption scandal involving her close friend.
But she had remained at the presidential Blue House since the verdict, citing the need to repair her private home in southern Seoul before moving in. The ousted leader, seen greeting supporters outside her property Sunday evening local time, later issued an apology through a former spokesman. “I would like to express an apology for failing to fulfill my term,” Park said, according the Yonhap news agency. “Although it may take time, I believe the truth will eventually be revealed.” The court ruling removed Park’s presidential immunity to criminal indictment.
She has already been named a criminal suspect, accused of bribery for offering policy favours to firms that benefited Choi.
For months she has refused to make herself available for questioning by prosecutors probing the scandal.
Live television footage followed her motorcade as it drove from the Blue House to Park’s private residence in southern Seoul.
A smiling Park was seen waving to her supporters from inside her black vehicle as it pulled up to her home in the glitzy Gangnam district.
Hundreds of Park’s flag-waving supporters had gathered outside her home, with some 2,000 police officers deployed to prevent any disturbances, according to reports.
Park, wearing a dark jacket with her hair neatly pulled back, waved to the crowd after arriving at her home and greeting former aides and lawmakers.
She was found to have broken the law by allowing her friend Choi Soon-Sil to meddle in state affairs, and breached rules on public servants’ activities.
A presidential election is to be held within 60 days of the ruling, with local media suggesting May 9 as the most likely date. The likely winner — by a distance — is the liberal former Democratic Party leader Moon Jae-In who enjoys 36 percent popular support.
“If the power of candlelight has brought us this far, we now have to work together for a complete victory,” Moon told a news conference on Sunday, referring to weekly candlelit vigils that called for Park’s ouster.
“South Korea will make new history through a regime change.”
But she could now face formal arrest if she refuses a summons, with local reports saying prosecutors were mulling a travel ban.
Tens of thousands of anti-Park protesters took to the streets to celebrate the court’s ruling on Saturday while some 20,000 angry pro-Park flag-waving protesters rallied nearby, demanding a review of the one-off decision.
Police arrested several protesters for violent behaviour, with a third person confirmed dead Saturday in hospital after losing consciousness the day before in a clash between pro-Park supporters and riot police. – AFP
