8 out of 10 S.Koreans demand impeachment, immediate resignation of President Park

Almost eight out of 10 South Koreans demanded embattled President Park Geun-hye immediately step down or be impeached, a local survey showed on Tuesday.

According to an online poll of 1,000 people aged 15-69 living in capital Seoul and other major cities, 62.4 percent replied that President Park must immediately resign.

The majority of respondents still called for the immediate voluntary resignation as impeachment process takes long, but 14.4 percent said Park should be impeached through parliament and the constitutional court.

The 300-seat National Assembly handed in a bill to impeach President Park, heralding an impeachment vote during a plenary session scheduled for Friday.

To overcome the two-thirds threshold, at least 28 lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party are required to vote for it as there are 172 opposition and independent legislators who jointly put forward the impeachment motion last Saturday.

If the impeachment motion is passed through the unicameral assembly, President Park will immediately be stripped of all powers. It is required to be upheld by the two-thirds of the nine-judge constitutional court, which has as long as 180 days to deliberate on it.

Only 13.1 percent preferred the scandal-hit president's voluntary resignation in April next year to hold an early presidential election two months later.

Meanwhile, 76.7 percent of respondents said President Park is held the most responsible for the scandal involving herself and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil.

Choi has been charged with extorting tens of millions of U.S. dollars from major conglomerates to set up two nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi.

The decades-long friend of the president has also been accused of receiving secret presidential documents to meddling in state affairs from the shadows.

Among the respondents, 10.2 percent said Choi and her family members must take the most responsibility for the scandal. Enditem