Two days after a South Korean court ousted Park Geun-hye from office, the embattled former leader left the presidential residence on Sunday night.
Two days after a South Korean court ousted Park Geun-hye from office, the embattled former leader left the presidential residence on Sunday night.
It took more than two days — and national speculation about when the public would get a tangible image that her presidency had ended — before Park vacated the complex, known as the Blue House.
The impeached former president, who hasn’t addressed the public since the court’s action, traveled about eight miles south to this city’s Gangnam district, where she has kept a vacant personal residence over the years.
Park left the presidential complex in a motorcade about 7:20 p.m., cloistered in a black limousine. Twenty minutes later, composed and smiling, Park politely greeted guests and waved to a rowdy crowd of supporters carrying national flags outside her personal residence on a narrow street lined with brick walls.
As she arrived the supporters chanted “ daetonglyeong “ — “president” in Korean.
Around the same time, Park released a statement through a political spokesman. It was her first public statement since a constitutional court unanimously removed her from office, upholding an impeachment vote by the National Assembly in December.
“I apologize for not fulfilling my duties as president,” the statement read. “I thank people for trusting and protecting me.” She said she would “take full responsibility” for what had happened, but added: “Though it will take time, I believe the truth will be revealed.”
South Korean prosecutors, who recently finished a massive investigation into corruption involving the upper echelons of South Korean politics and business, have alleged that Park became involved in a bribery scheme.
They claim she and a longtime confidant sought payments from Samsung Group , the nation’s largest conglomerate, in exchange for helping to ensure a merger between two of the tech giant’s affiliates.
More than two dozen people have been charged in the sprawling investigation, including several of the president’s aides and the de facto leader of Samsung Group, Lee Jae-yong.
