South Korean leader faces impeachment bid

SEOUL, South Korea -- The opposition parties who control South Korea's National Assembly launched an unprecedented attempt Tuesday to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun over election law violations.\nThe former human rights lawyer's administration has been swamped by scandal since taking office in February 2002. Late last year, Roh became the first South Korean president to see his veto overridden by the National Assembly.\nThe opposition, the Grand National Party and the Millennium Democratic Party, submitted the impeachment motion after Roh was found to have violated election laws by making remarks aimed at influencing the April 15 parliamentary vote.\nThe motion needs two-thirds approval in the 273-seat National Assembly to pass and has the backing of 159 lawmakers. But analysts say getting the needed votes won't be easy because many younger legislators see impeachment as a frivolous expenditure of political capital ahead of the election.\n"I don't think the bill will pass because the reasons for impeaching him seem weak," said Park Joon-young, associate professor at Ewha Women's University.\nLawmakers must vote on the measure within 72 hours. If it passes, Roh would be stripped of his presidential powers, and the matter would go to the Constitutional Court for a final ruling.\nTwo-thirds of the court's nine justices would have to approve for Roh to be ousted. The justices have 180 days to decide.\nRoh spokesman Yoon Tae-young was guarded late Tuesday, saying, "We will calmly watch the unjust and unreasonable opposition's motion of impeachment and its result."\nMonday, Roh's office dismissed the impeachment plans as unfounded political posturing.\nSouth Korean opposition parties frequently threaten impeachment. But Grand National Party floor leader Hong Sa-duk said moving to impeach Roh sends an important message.\n"We hope our action would serve as a stern warning to the president not to violate laws," Hong said.\nLast week, the country's election watchdog ruled Roh violated the law by making comments that could unfairly influence the parliamentary balloting. But it found Roh's infraction was not serious enough for criminal charges and simply urged him to refrain from repeating such remarks.\nDuring a news conference last month, Roh had responded to a journalist's question by calling for "overwhelming support" for the liberal Uri Party, which backs the president.\nThe Millennium Democratic Party said last week it would try to impeach the president if he did not apologize by Sunday.\nRoh did not do so, and opposition officials accused him of failing to properly respond to the ruling and ignoring "the will of the people and opposition parties."\nRoh has no party affiliation but has said he plans to join the Uri Party, which has 47 seats in the National Assembly. The Millennium Democratic Party has 62 seats and the Grand National Party has 146.\nRoh butted heads with the National Assembly late last year when he vetoed a bill to appoint an independent counsel to investigate corruption charges against several former presidential aides. The opposition then overrode the veto.\nRoh said an independent probe wasn't needed because a state-backed investigation was under way.