Published : Feb. 28, 2017 - 15:13
An aide to impeached President Park Geu-hye on Tuesday voiced hopes for the Constitutional Court's "wise" judgment on her fate, as justices began their final deliberations with their ruling expected early next month.
The aide also said the presidential office will "calmly" wait for the court's high-stakes decision -- an indication that Park may remain muted rather than turning to the media again to rebut her corruption allegations and rally her core supporters.
(Yonhap)
"We hope that (the court) will make a wise judgment," the aide told Yonhap News Agency over the phone, declining to be named. "We will quietly and calmly watch (the developments related to the court ruling)."
The court will decide whether to unseat or reinstate the president who was impeached by parliament over a corruption scandal on Dec. 9. Its ruling is likely to come before its acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi retires on March 13 and creates yet another vacancy on the already short-handed bench.
On Monday, the court heard final arguments from Park and the National Assembly during the last hearing before the justices' start closed-door deliberations, a process expected to take around two weeks.
Park's apparently low-key stance came amid accusations that she failed to make good on her pledge to undergo the face-to-face questioning with the independent counsel team investigating the scandal. The team's 70-day probe ends Tuesday as Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has refused to extend the probe.
Park also did not show up to the final hearing session despite calls for her to make her case in person.
But at the session, she had her attorney read out her statement in which she pledged to "do my best" to heal national division and move the country forward beyond the scandal regardless of the court's decision.
Until last week, speculation had abounded that Park could hold additional press meetings to deny the corruption charges and call her supporters to arms in support of her reinstatement.
Some even said she could attend a massive weekend rally organized by her supporters brandishing national flags and demanding the court reject her impeachment.
Park's aide, however, ruled out the possibility of her engaging in any high-profile public activities pending the ruling.
The aide dismissed the speculation that the president could opt to step down voluntarily before the ruling comes out under a political deal that would spare her from being charged with alleged corruption.
"(The presidential office) has never weighed the possibility of her voluntarily resigning," the aide said.
Park is suspected of allowing her friend Choi Soon-sil to meddle in important state affairs and colluding with her in extorting money and favors from large conglomerates, such as Samsung Group.
Both have flatly denied the allegations.
The president is also alleged to have neglected her presidential duty during a 2014 ferry disaster that killed more than 300 passengers, mostly young students. (Yonhap)