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S.Korea's opposition says Roh apology too late
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-12 10:47 South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun apologized
Friday for an unprecedented political crisis in which he faces impeachment, but
the opposition said he was too late and it would still try to unseat him.
Roh's dramatic apology came just as parliament had been due to reconvene to
try to hold an impeachment session that was blocked Thursday by pro-Roh Uri
Party members who occupied the speaker's podium in the National Assembly.
"I deeply apologize to the people for the country being led into this
impeachment crisis," Roh said in a statement read by his chief spokesman. "I
couldn't sleep at all last night."
Roh said he was heartbroken a businessman had apparently killed himself after
the president mentioned him in a briefing on Thursday at which he had refused to
apologize for illegal electioneering. He urged supporters not to take extreme
actions, as one did Thursday by setting himself on fire.
But the opposition dismissed Roh's statement.
"It's too late, and it's difficult to accept the sincerity of the apology,"
said Kim Young-tae, spokesman for the opposition Millennium Democratic Party and
a member of parliament.
Park Jin of the main opposition Grand National Party said the parties would
seek to hold the vote by 10:00 p.m. EST. The deadline for the vote is 4:30 p.m.
EST Friday.
Foreign investors closely watch political stability in South Korea, which
already faces a crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions, a still-nascent
recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy and an investigation into illicit
funds given to political parties by conglomerates known as "chaebol."
OVERNIGHT SCUFFLES
An impeachment vote could plunge the country into months of political
uncertainty even if overturned by the Constitutional Court, as political
analysts say would be likely. Nonetheless, financial markets have so far been
largely unfazed by the row.
Even before Roh's apology there was drama in parliament.
In the middle of the night, opposition parliamentarians stormed yelling into
the chamber to try to secure the occupied speaker's podium from sleeping pro-Roh
Uri Party members.
Politicians fought, wrestled, argued and shoved. The Uri Party kept the
speaker's chair but opposition parliamentarians gained a foothold on the podium.
One report said one Uri Party member ran shoeless from the chamber with the
speaker's gavel.
The Grand National Party and Millennium Democratic Party say they have
secured enough support among their own members of parliament to pass the bill if
it was put to the vote.
The speaker had adjourned Thursday's session after he failed to persuade the
Uri Party members to clear the podium.
Adding to the high-stakes atmosphere, police detained a man after he drove
his off-road vehicle on to the steps of the imposing National Assembly and then
set fire to the car.
The vote, if held, would come barely a year into Roh's single five-year term
and just weeks before an April 15 parliamentary election at the heart of the
impeachment row.
Party officials told Reuters Thursday 127 of the 145 Grand National Party
parliamentarians were ready to vote for impeachment. They said 55 of the 62
members of the smaller Millennium Democratic Party would also back the
impeachment bid.
Those figures would mean the opposition could tally just over the 181-vote,
two-thirds majority needed. There was no way to confirm the figures
independently ahead of a vote.
If parliament votes for impeachment, the president's powers are suspended
until the Constitutional Court rules -- a process that could take up to six
months. Prime Minister Goh Kun would take over as interim head of
state.
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