[VIDEO] South Korea Parliament Impeaches President Park Geun-Hye

Seoul (AFP) – South Korean lawmakers on Friday passed an impeachment motion against President Park  stripping away her sweeping executive powers over a corruption scandal that paralysed her administration and triggered massive street protests.

The National Assembly motion — passed by 234 votes to 56 — transfers Park’s authority to the prime minister, pending a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether to ratify the decision and permanently remove the president from office.

Update: South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment Friday means she has been stripped of power — but not the perks.

Even as her prime minister governs in her stead, Park gets to keep living at the presidential Blue House, using her official car and plane, collecting the same monthly salary (about $15,000 reportedly) and receiving round-the-clock security.

She also holds onto the title “President.”

But with nothing officially to do, it’s uncertain how she’ll spend her days during the up-to-six months the country’s Constitutional Court has to decide whether to accept the impeachment and formally end her presidency.

In 2004, when President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by lawmakers, he spent his time at the Blue House reading books and newspapers and mountain-climbing with journalists, according to South Korean media.

The bureaucratic machinery that suspended Park and transferred her powers to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn began churning as soon as the impeachment motion passed Friday.

National Assembly Speaker Chung Se-kyun ordered the chairman of the assembly’s legislation and judiciary committee to convey the original version of the motion to the Constitutional Court. Upon receiving the motion, the court will begin its deliberations…(more)