S.Korean president passes the ball in parliamentary court ahead of impeachment vote

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday passed the ball of decision on her fate in parliamentary court ahead of an expected impeachment vote as early as Friday, saying she will follow the National Assembly's decision including a shortened presidency.

Park issued her third televised address to the nation since a scandal involving herself and her longtime confidante emerged in October. The first and second ones were made on Oct. 25 and Nov. 4 respectively.

"If ruling and opposition parties find a way through discussion to minimize confusion and vacuum in state affairs and to stably transfer power, (I) will step down from the presidency in accordance with the schedules and legal proceedings (determined by the parliament)," said Park.

Park didn't mention the voluntary resignation, demanded by opposition parties and the general public and even by some members of her ruling Saenuri Party. Park has refused the demand, saying it violates the country's constitution.

The third national speech came ahead of the scheduled parliamentary vote on a bill to impeach the embattled president as early as Dec. 2 and no later than Dec. 9 when the regular session ends.

As opposition parties and some members of the governing party allegedly reached a tacit agreement on putting the impeachment motion to vote, it is highly likely for the bill to be passed through the 300-seat National Assembly.

There are 172 opposition and independent legislators who want to remove Park from office, with as many as 40 lawmakers of the Saenuri Party expected to vote in favor of it, according to local media speculations.

After the passage of the impeachment, Park would immediately be suspended and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn would become an interim president.

By law, the motion is required to be endorsed by six of nine judges of the constitutional court for final conclusion. The highest court will have as long as 180 days to determine.

Following the final impeachment, presidential election is required to be held in 60 days.

Higher probability for the impeachment passage encouraged the ruling party's senior lawmakers close to President Park to ask for an "honorable" resignation on Monday.

Park's speech, however, indicated her reluctance to voluntarily step down. Opposition parties denounced the address for what they claimed to be a ploy to delay the impeachment process.

Park Jie-won, floor leader of the casting vote-wielding People's Party, said in his Facebook posting that Park refrained from scheduling her own resignation and threw the responsibility to the parliament from the strategy that rival parties could not agree to the scheduling.

Choo Mi-ae, chairwoman of the biggest opposition Minjoo Party, said her party will continue to push the impeachment vote as Park's speech is aimed at passing the buck to parliament in deciding on her fate. Choo noted that Park's immediate, unconditional resignation is a sole way to normalize state affairs.

Touching on the presidential speech, Saenuri Party's whip Chung Jin-seok told reporters that he wants to call on opposition parties to go back to the starting point to re-schedule the impeachment, according to Yonhap news agency report.

Meanwhile, President Park said it was all her "big" fault to mismanage personal relationships around her, stressing she hadn't pursued any personal gains "for a flash" as she believed that things would contribute to public interests.

Prosecutors say Park conspired with Choi Soon-sil, her decades-long friend who has been indicted on charges including abuse of power and extortion. Park became the first South Korean president to be investigated as a criminal suspect.

Large conglomerates had allegedly been pressured by Choi into donating tens of millions of U.S. dollars to two nonprofit foundations Choi actually controls.

Choi has also been accused of having illegal access to secret presidential documents under the connivance or protection of the first South Korean female leader.

The scandal-plagued president made her renewed apology to the public, saying it shattered her heart to be unable to appease people's anger and big disappointment.

Park added she will elaborate on what's the truth behind the biggest political scandal she ever faced since her inauguration in February 2013, indicating her news conference on the scandal in the near future.

(APD)