SEOUL, South Korea — President Park Geun-hye of South Korea said Tuesday that she was willing to resign before her term ends, in an effort to head off a pending impeachment vote over a devastating corruption scandal.

“I am giving up everything now,” she said in a dramatic, five-minute televised address, offering her third public apology for the scandal that has paralyzed her government for weeks. It was the first time South Koreans had heard from their cloistered leader since a previous televised public apology on Nov. 4.

But opposition lawmakers immediately rejected the offer, calling it a ploy meant to divide her political opponents and allow Ms. Park to survive in office, and they vowed to proceed with impeachment efforts. But their plan to call for an impeachment vote on Friday has been cast into doubt.

Members of Ms. Park’s party who had supported impeachment have now suggested that the vote be delayed until Dec. 9, to give rival parties time to negotiate a date for Ms. Park’s resignation instead. The opposition needs the support of those governing party lawmakers to pass an impeachment bill.</s>SEOUL, South Korea -- President Park Geun-hye of South Korea said Tuesday that she was willing to resign before her term ends, in an effort to head off protests over allegations of corruption.

"I am giving up everything now," she said in a five-minute televised address, offering her third public apology for the scandal that has paralyzed her government for weeks. It was the first time South Koreans had heard from their leader since a previous televised public apology on Nov. 4.

But opposition lawmakers immediately rejected the offer, calling it a ploy meant to divide her political opponents and allow Park to survive in office, and they vowed to proceed with impeachment efforts. But their plan to call for an impeachment vote on Friday has been cast into doubt.

Members of Park's party who had supported impeachment have now suggested that the vote be delayed until Dec. 9, to give rival parties time to negotiate a date for Park's resignation instead. The opposition needs the support of those governing party lawmakers to pass an impeachment bill.

In her speech Tuesday, Park admitted no legal wrongdoing and did not give a date for her resignation, saying she would let the National Assembly decide.

"If the governing and opposition parties inform me of the way to minimize the confusion and vacuum in state affairs and ensure a stable transfer of power," she said, "I will step down as president according to their schedule and legal procedures."

Opposition lawmakers said the offer was an attempt to buy time, in hopes that the opposition parties and members of her party who have supported impeachment would bicker over when she should step down and on whether impeachment should proceed.

"This is nothing but a sly trick to avoid impeachment," said Youn Kwan-suk, a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party. "What the people wanted was her immediate resignation."

After Park's address, Hwang Young-cheul, a spokesman for those lawmakers, said the rival parties must be given a chance to negotiate a road map for Park's resignation before trying to impeach her. It was not too late to push an impeachment vote to Dec. 9, he said.

Civic groups that have helped organize large recent protests against Park issued statements denouncing her Tuesday speech as a delaying tactic. They vowed to hold rallies until she resigned.

"The only thing she confirmed today was that she still didn't realize what she had done wrong," one of the groups said.

Before Park's televised address, even staunch allies in her party, Saenuri, had begun appealing to her to choose an "honorable retreat," as opposition lawmakers have put it. After the speech, some of those people embraced her initiative, calling on lawmakers to discuss the offer rather than try to impeach her.

One of them, an eight-term lawmaker, Suh Chung-won, said, "Now that the president said she would step down, the opposition's argument that she should be impeached because she refused to resign has lost ground."

Park's five-year term is scheduled to end in February 2018. If she resigned, she would be the first South Korean president to do so since 1960, when Syngman Rhee, the country's founding president, fled into exile in Hawaii during popular uprisings against his corrupt, authoritarian government.

Park's statement followed mounting pressure from ordinary South Koreans, who have taken to the streets in large numbers for five straight Saturdays to demand that she resign or be impeached and arrested.

The scandal engulfing Park's government involves a longtime friend and secretive adviser to the president, Choi Soon-sil, who has been charged with extorting the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars from South Korean businesses.

Prosecutors have said Park helped her to do so.

Park cannot be indicted while in office, but she has been officially identified as a criminal suspect, a first for a president. Park has also been accused of helping Choi illegally gain access to confidential government documents.

If the National Assembly votes to impeach Park, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is not an elected official, would serve as acting president while the Constitutional Court has up to six months to decide whether to ratify the impeachment vote.

During her speech Tuesday, Park said she had "agonized over countless nights" asking herself what was the best thing she could do for the country. She said her offer to step down would help defuse the political uncertainty and "put the country back on track."</s>The South Korean president has said is she willing to resign after an influence-peddling scandal at the heart of business and government brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the street demanding her to be ousted.

Park Geun-hye on Tuesday asked parliament to decide how and when she can give up power over an influence-peddling scandal, taking the country’s political crisis deeper into uncharted terrain.

The main opposition Democratic Party rejected Ms Park’s offer, calling it a ploy to escape being impeached, and said it would continue efforts to bring an impeachment motion in parliament, which they have sought to do as soon as Friday.

No South Korean president has failed to complete a single five-year term since the current democratic system was implemented in 1987.

“I will leave to parliament everything about my future including shortening of my term,” Ms Park said in a brief televised speech.

Her dramatic manoeuvre puts the burden of resolving the political crisis on parliament, which has been controlled by a coalition of opposition parties since Park’s conservative Saenuri Party unexpectedly lost its majority in April elections.

If Ms Park resigns or an impeachment vote in parliament is upheld by the Constitutional Court, an election must be held in 60 days to nominate a president to serve a five-year term, with the prime minister leading the country in the interim.

That short time frame could leave the main political parties looking to buy time in order to coalesce behind presidential candidates, and political analysts said it may take months for parliament to agree on an exit plan for Ms Park.

“I will step down from my position according to the law once a way is formed to pass on the administration in a stable manner that will also minimise political unrest and vacuum after ruling and opposition parties’ discussion,” Ms Park said, her voice firm.

Park Kwang-on, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said it looked like she was trying to stall proceedings.

“She is handing the ball to parliament when she could simply step down,” he told Reuters.

“She is asking parliament to pick a date for her to resign, which she knows would lead to a discussion on when to hold the presidential election and delay everything.”

Ms Park (64) had apologised twice previously but until Tuesday resisted mounting public calls to quit. Her term is scheduled to end in February 2018.

“She doesn’t want the parliament to impeach her and she doesn’t think that the parliament can soon reach an agreement, so she is making things complicated and trying to shift some of her blame to the parliament,” said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University.

Some lawmakers from Park’s Saenuri party had asked her to resign under an agreement that would allow her to leave office with some dignity.

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans rallied for the fifth weekend in a row, calling for Park’s resignation. Organisers said the crowd totalled 1.5 million, while the police estimated the crowd at 260,000.

Ms Park’s approval rating fell to just 4 per cent in a weekly survey released on Friday by Gallup Korea, an all time-low for a democratically elected South Korean president.

Ms Park’s friend, Choi Soon-sil, and a former aide have been indicted in the case. Prosecutors named Ms Park as an accomplice in an investigation into whether big business was inappropriately pressured to contribute money to foundations set up to back Ms Park’s initiatives.

The presidential office and Ms Park’s lawyer have denied the accusations. She has immunity from prosecution in the case as long as she remains in office.

Ms Park has acknowledged carelessness in her ties with Ms Choi, who Ms Park has said had helped her through difficult times.

“Not even for a moment did I pursue my own gains and I have lived without one iota of self-interest,” Ms Park said on Tuesday.

The friendship dates to an era when Ms Park served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by an assassin’s bullet intended for her father, then-president Park Chung-hee. Five years later, in 1979, Ms Park’s father was murdered by his disgruntled spy chief.</s>South Korea's deeply unpopular president Park Geun-hye says she's willing to resign on Tuesday. Her announcement comes amid mounting public calls to quit. Graham Mackay reports</s>This is probably the highest number of protestors ever demanding a leader to step down, in recent memory. An estimated 1.5 million hit the streets in the capital of South Korea to demand the resignation of the US puppet President Park Geun-hye.

Park has been embroiled in an influence peddling scandal akin to that of the Clinton Foundation’s false philanthropy, when her friend Choi gained privileged access to Park’s administration in favor of at least two contributors to the latter’s foundation.

The only difference is that the South Koreans are quick to respond en masse.

Choi is linked to those who are moving towards the installation of THAAD missile system, which of course include the warmongers in the US State Department and war marketers of the military industrial complex.

Corporatist Bloomberg is calling those million demonstrators as mere “agitators”…

About 260,000 people turned up for the mass rally on Saturday, police said, making it one of the biggest demonstrations in South Korea’s history. The organizers asserted that as many as 1.5 million took part in Seoul and another 400,000 elsewhere in the country. The city square echoed the sound of “step down, arrest her” as the protesters, at one point, put out the candles they were carrying only to light it up again en masse.

“She promised a better life and now I know she meant it for herself,” said Seo Sung-kyung, a 42-year-old restaurant worker, as she walked with fellow agitators. “We’ve been fooled by her. We will not make the same mistake again.”

As shown above, Bloomberg showcases the 260,000 people, but the images of the massive demonstrations wouldn’t lie, of course.

Over 1mn march in Seoul to demand President Park’s resignation

About 1.3 million protesters have gathered in Seoul to demand the resignation of scandal-plagued South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

The protest’s organizers have said they expect that number to grow to 1.5 million before the end of the night, and that a further 500,000 are gathering at various protests around the country, Reuters reports.

The huge demonstrations, which began five weeks ago, are the largest in South Korea since the pro-democracy protests in the 1980s.

Park is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving her long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil, who has been indicted on bribery charges.

Prosecutors wish to speak to the president over allegations that she colluded with Choi to offer favors to businesses that contributed money to two foundations controlled by Choi.

The president has apologized twice on national television, but has so far resisted calls to resign. “It is hard to forgive myself and sleep at night with feelings of sorrow,” Park said of the scandal.

The leader of the main opposition party described the apology as insincere.

Opposition parties are attempting to put forward a parliamentary motion to impeach Park over the alleged collusion. The motion looks set to go to a vote in early December.

As of 8pm Saturday, The Korean Times reported 1.3 million attended the largest protest in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, where activists and musicians entertained the enormous crowd.

Police said around 1,500 civic groups were involved in organizing the massive rally and that, although all previous protests have passed peacefully, 25,000 officers were required to police the event.

Earlier on Saturday, protesters marched within 200 meters of the presidential palace where Park resides, holding banners calling for her to step down.

Park was elected in 2012, and her five-year term ends in February 2018. Her father Park Chung-hee ruled South Korea from 1961, when he seized power in a military coup, until he was assassinated in 1979. He reportedly remains popular with many older Koreans, as he was in power during a period of rapid economic growth.

The current president’s approval rating, however, has fallen to as low as four percent recently – a record low for South Korea’s elected presidents.

There’s no doubt that the departure of Park will contribute to world peace, as the THAAD installation won’t be pursued anymore as the same people demanding Park’s resignation expressed strong indignation to.

On August 15 in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, 908 people sat in rows of chairs and waited for their heads to be shaved as an act of protest against the U.S.-South Korean decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in their hometown. Even Confucian scholars, who regard all parts of the human body as a gift from one’s parents and their hair as precious as their lives, sat stoically, willing to join the symbolic act against the deployment of the controversial weapons system. As the ceremony began and clumps of hair fell to the ground, onlookers gasped and even dabbed tears from their cheeks.

But the moment of anguish was brief. As soon as the ceremony concluded, everyone quietly tied their headbands behinds their heads and shouted “No THAAD!” as they headed to a demonstration.

Although some small sectors of our society would like to claim credit for the spread of unrests around the globe, demanding real changes about the structures and personalities in their governments, we continue to attribute this Great Awakening to the internet infrastructure.

Without the World Wide Web, each revolutionary would be left to his own accord and not enjoy the moral support of the rest of the world.

There are only a few who can do that, and most of them were already dead.

Aside from the fiat monetary scam and bloodsoaked petrodollar, another significant source of funds for the Nazionist Khazarian Mafiais the “healthcare” industry which registered a whopping $3.09 trillion in 2014, and is projected to soar to $3.57 trillion in 2017, in the US alone. We believe that this is just a conservative figure.

We can all help the revolution by avoiding all Khazarian pharmaceutical drugs, defeat any viral attack and scaremongering, like the Zika virus, easily by knowing how to build our own comprehensive antiviral system. Find more about how we can kill three birds with one stone, right here.</s>Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions carry an effigy of South Korean President Park Geun-Hye as they march during a rally calling for South Korean President Park Geun-hye to step down in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. South Korean President Park Geun-hye's conditional resignation offer appears to be causing cracks in what previously had been a strong push for her impeachment, with opponents now struggling to set a date for a vote to strip her of power. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</s>South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday asked parliament to find a way for her to give up power and decide when she should step down amid an influence-peddling scandal, but the opposition said she was just trying to avoid impeachment.

Park, 64, had apologized twice previously but until now resisted mounting public calls to quit, even as lawmakers readied to mount impeachment proceedings.

“I will leave to parliament everything about my future including shortening of my term,” she said in a brief televised speech.

“I will step down from my position according to the law once a way is formed to pass on the administration in a stable manner that will also minimize political unrest and vacuum after ruling and opposition parties’ discussion.”

The main opposition Minjoo Party rejected Park’s offer, calling it a ploy to escape being impeached, the Yonhap news agency said.

Park Kwang-on, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said it looked like she was trying to delay proceedings.

“She is handing the ball to parliament, when she could simply step down,” he said.

“She is asking the parliament to pick a date for her to resign, which she knows would lead to a discussion on when to hold the presidential election and delay everything.”

“She doesn’t want the parliament to impeach her and she doesn’t think that the parliament can soon reach an agreement, so she is making things complicated and trying to shift some of her blame to the parliament,” he said.

Some lawmakers from Park’s own conservative Saenuri Party had asked her to resign under an agreement that would allow her to leave office with some dignity.

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans rallied for the fifth weekend in a row, calling for Park’s resignation. Organizers said the crowd totaled 1.5 million, while the police estimated the crowd at 260,000.

No South Korean president has failed to complete a term since the current democratic system was implemented in 1987. If Park is impeached or resigns, an election would be held in 60 days to nominate a president to serve a five-year term.

Park’s approval rating fell to just 4 percent in a weekly survey released on Friday by Gallup Korea, an all time-low for a democratically elected South Korean president.

Park’s friend, Choi Soon-sil, and a former aide have been indicted in the case. Prosecutors named Park as an accomplice in an investigation into whether big business was inappropriately pressured to contribute money to foundations set up to back Park’s initiatives.

The presidential office and Park’s lawyer have denied the accusations.

Park has acknowledged carelessness in her ties with Choi, who Park has said had helped her through difficult times.

Their friendship dates to an era when Park served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by an assassin’s bullet intended for her father, then-president Park Chung-hee. Five years later, in 1979, Park’s father was murdered by his disgruntled spy chief.</s>South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks last year during a visit to the Pentagon. The embattled leader says she will resign if parliament comes up with a plan for the safe transfer of power.

SEOUL, South Korea — President Park Geun-hye offered Tuesday to resign but put the onus on the parliament to decide how in a surprise announcement amid growing calls for her to step down or face impeachment over an influence-peddling and corruption scandal.

The main opposition Democratic Party called the speech, which was broadcast live and lasted about five minutes, a ploy to avoid an impeachment drive that has been gaining momentum.

It was her third public address since accusations surfaced last month that she allowed longtime friend Choi Soon-sil to wield undue influence over government policies and allegedly commit fraud. She would be the first leader to resign since 1960, when South Korea’s founding president, Syngman Rhee, was forced to flee to Hawaii during a popular uprising.

“I will delegate the matters about my fate, including the shortening of my presidential term, to the National Assembly,” Park said.

“If the ruling and opposition parties discuss and come up with a plan to reduce the confusion in state affairs and ensure a safe transfer of governments, I will resign from the presidential position under that schedule and by processes stated in law,” she added.

Park’s refusal so far to step down and the widening probe into Choi’s activities have fueled public anger and provoked mass protests for five weekends in a row. Her approval rating has fallen to 4 percent, according to a weekly survey released Friday by Gallup Korea.

Park, who has 15 months left in her five-year term in office, again apologized for the disruption but denied she sought personal gain. Prosecutors have accused her of being a co-conspirator in the scandal. The constitution provides the president with immunity from prosecution except in cases of treason or insurrection, although she can be investigated.

Democratic Party lawmakers called the speech an effort to distract them from the impeachment drive.

“The speech lacked self-reflection and repentance,” party spokesman Rep. Youn Kwan-suk was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency. “What people want is her immediate resignation, not dragging out and dodging the responsibility to the parliament.”

Opposition parties have scheduled an impeachment motion for Friday and were expected to nominate a special prosecutor to independently investigate the scandal. Even some members of Park’s ruling Saenuri Party have called for her to step down, signaling the opposition may be able to get the 200 votes needed to impeach her.

Choi, the 60-year-old daughter of a late cult leader, has been formally indicted on charges related to suspicions that she used her presidential ties to persuade dozens of companies, including Samsung and Hyundai, to donate more than $65 million to two nonprofit foundations she controlled.

Prosecutors said last week that Park colluded with Choi and two former key aides in “considerable parts” of the alleged criminal acts. Park’s lawyer, Yoo Yeong-ha, has called the accusations groundless.

Park admitted again to carelessness in her ties with Choi, whom she has said helped her through difficult times. The president is the daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee, who was assassinated in 1979, five years after her mother was killed in another attempt on his life.

“I did what I did thinking that was the best for the nation, but that cannot excuse me for the failing to manage the people around me,” she said Tuesday.

At least 200 members of the 300-strong National Assembly need to support an impeachment effort, which would likely require the support of 28 Saenuri Party members.

However, even if that occurs, the decision would have to be ratified by the Constitutional Court, which would likely be a drawn-out process.

The crisis comes at a dangerous time for South Korea as it faces a growing threat from North Korea, which has conducted two nuclear tests and several missile launches this year.

The U.N. Security Council was expected to impose tougher sanctions on Pyongyang in a vote Wednesday in New York, although previous rounds have failed to stop the communist country’s weapons programs. Diplomats have said the new sanctions target North Korea’s hard-currency revenues by placing a “hard, binding cap” on coal experts, The Associated Press reported.

The U.S. has about 28,500 servicemembers stationed in South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North after the 1950-53 Korea War ended in an armistice instead of a truce.</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president has visited a rural market in her first public appearance out among her citizens since a huge political scandal exploded in October.

Park Geun-hye’s visit to the market in the southeastern city of Daeju on Thursday comes as her opponents are squabbling over whether and when to impeach her after she made a conditional resignation offer this week.

The visits was also made just before police detained a man suspected of setting fire to the birthplace of Park’s late dictator father in the nearby city of Gumi.

Park Geun-hye’s office says she visited the market to review a recent fire, which destroyed hundreds of shops there.

Daegu is Park’s political home turf where she was elected as a national lawmaker four times before becoming president in 2013.</s>South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Tuesday she will resign her office once parliament develops a plan for a safe transfer of power, amid prosecution claims that she colluded with a friend who wielded government power from the shadows.

Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Seoul each Saturday for the last five weeks to demand that Park step down, amid prosecutors’ claims that she colluded with a confidante, who allegedly manipulated power from the shadows and extorted companies to amass an illicit fortune.

Park would be the first South Korean leader to resign since the country’s first president, Syngman Rthee, quit and then fled to Hawaii amid a popular uprising in 1960.

The succeeding government was overthrown by a coup by Park’s late father, the military dictator Park Chung-hee, whose rule also abruptly ended after he was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979.

“I will leave the matters about my fate, including the shortening of my presidential term, to be decided by the National Assembly,” Park said on Tuesday in a live address to the nation, referring to parliament.

“If the ruling and opposition parties discuss and come up with a plan to reduce the confusion in state affairs and ensure a safe transfer of governments, I will resign from the presidential position under that schedule and by processes stated in law.”

Opposition parties had been closing in on an impeachment motion against Park, and even her allies in the conservative ruling party have called for her to “honorably” step down rather than face impeachment. An impeachment motion vote had been planned for Friday.

The country’s two largest opposition parties were also planning on Tuesday to nominate a special prosecutor to independently investigate the scandal.

At the heart of the scandal is Choi Soon-sil, Park’s longtime friend and the daughter of a late cult leader who allegedly meddled in state affairs and pressured companies to donate millions of dollars to foundations controlled by her at the request of Park.

Prosecutors have so far indicted Choi, two ex-presidential officials and a music-video director known as a Choi associate for extortion, leakage of confidential documents and other charges.

Park, who has immunity from prosecution while in office, has refused to meet with prosecutors. Her lawyer, Yoo Yeong-ha, has described prosecutors’ accusations against Park as groundless.
Park Geun-hye says she is willing to resign and offers to begin the process of removing herself from power.