China hopes the political situation in the Republic of Korea
(ROK)?remains stable, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu
Jianchao in Beijing on Friday.
The?ROK National Assembly stripped President Roh Moo-hyun
of power on Friday by passing the first ever impeachment bill
against a president.
In response to a related question, Liu said this is an internal
matter for the ROK.
Amid loud shouting by opposition and heavy clashes between
lawmakers, National Assembly Speaker Park Kwan-yong announced the
result at around 03:00 GMT.
He said 195 lawmakers of the total 271-member parliament
attended the ballot, 193 voted for, while the other two voted
against. Opposition parties take majority numbers in
parliament.
According to rules, the bill was affirmed when two thirds of the
271 lawmakers voted for it.
With the passage of the bill, Roh has been suspended as the head
of state, supreme commander of the army, president of cabinet
meetings and coordinator of state affairs.
However, Roh will be allowed to reside in the presidential
residence under the protection of the presidential secret service
until the Constitutional Court issues a final ruling.
When hearing the news of the impeachment bill approved by the
parliament, Roh was in a provincial city to conduct an inspection
of a factory.
"I hope the outcome will be different at the Constitutional
Court because it will make a legal judgment, which is different
from a political judgment," Roh said while meeting workers at the
factory in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, about 400
kilometers southeast of Seoul.
A former human rights lawyer, Roh was elected in December 2002
to a five-year term on a pledge of clean politics, but several of
his key aides have been arrested on charges of receiving illegal
funds to finance his campaign.
With parliamentary elections less than five weeks away, the
confrontation burst into the open with the impeachment motion.
Roh's supporters protested in Seoul.
(China Daily March 13, 2004)