South Korea's parliament impeached President Park Geun-hye on Friday amid a corruption scandal that has left her isolated, The Associated Press reported.
After the vote, parliamentary officials hand-delivered formal documents to the presidential Blue House that stripped Park of her power and allowed her No. 2, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, to assume leadership until the country's Constitutional Court rules on whether Park must permanently step down. The court has up to six months to decide.
South Korean National Assembly speaker Chung Sye-kyun said the bill for impeachment was passed by a vote of 236 for and 56 opposed, with nine invalid votes and abstentions, the AP reported.
That surpassed the necessary two-thirds support in the 300-seat assembly. The opposition needed help from members of Park's party to get the needed votes, and it got it.
Friday was the last day of the current parliamentary session. As lawmakers arrived at the parliament, hundreds of protesters rallied in front of the National Assembly’s main gate to urge impeachment.
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