President Roh Moo-hyun of the Republic of Korea (ROK) apologized Friday for an unprecedented political crisis in which he faces impeachment, but the opposition said he was too late and it would still try to unseat him.  

Roh's dramatic apology came just as the Parliament had been due to reconvene to try to hold an impeachment session that was blocked Thursday by pro-Roh Uri Party members who occupied the speaker's podium in the National Assembly.

"I deeply apologize to the people for the country being led into this impeachment crisis," Roh said in a statement read by his chief spokesman. "I couldn't sleep at all last night."

Roh said he was heartbroken to learn that a businessman had apparently killed himself after the president mentioned him in a briefing on Thursday at which he had refused to apologize for illegal electioneering. He urged supporters not to take extreme actions, as one did Thursday by setting himself on fire.

But the opposition dismissed Roh's statement.

"It's too late, and it's difficult to accept the sincerity of the apology," said Kim Young-tae, spokesman for the opposition Millennium Democratic Party and a member of the Parliament.

Park Jin of the main opposition Grand National Party said the parties would seek to hold the vote by 10:00 pm EST. The deadline for the vote is 4:30 pm EST Friday.

Foreign investors closely watch political stability in the ROK, which already faces a crisis over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear ambitions, a still-nascent recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy and an investigation into illicit funds given to political parties by conglomerates known as "chaebol."

Overnight scuffles

An impeachment vote could plunge the country into months of political uncertainty even if overturned by the Constitutional Court, as political analysts say would be likely. Nonetheless, financial markets have so far been largely unfazed by the row.

Even before Roh's apology there was drama in the Parliament.

In the middle of the night, opposition parliamentarians stormed yelling into the chamber to try to secure the occupied speaker's podium from sleeping pro-Roh Uri Party members.

Politicians fought, wrestled, argued and shoved. The Uri Party kept the speaker's chair but opposition parliamentarians gained a foothold on the podium. One report said one Uri Party member ran shoeless from the chamber with the speaker's gavel.

The Grand National Party and Millennium Democratic Party say they have secured enough support among their own members of the Parliament to pass the bill if it was put to the vote.

The speaker had adjourned Thursday's session after he failed to persuade the Uri Party members to clear the podium.

Adding to the high-stakes atmosphere, police detained a man after he drove his off-road vehicle on to the steps of the imposing National Assembly and then set fire to the car.

The vote, if held, would come barely a year into Roh's single five-year term and just weeks before an April 15 parliamentary election at the heart of the impeachment row.

Party officials said Thursday 127 of the 145 Grand National Party parliamentarians were ready to vote for impeachment. They said 55 of the 62 members of the smaller Millennium Democratic Party would also back the impeachment bid.

Those figures would mean the opposition could tally just over the 181-vote, two-thirds majority needed. There was no way to confirm the figures independently ahead of a vote.

If the Parliament votes for impeachment, the president's powers are suspended until the Constitutional Court rules -- a process that could take up to six months. Prime Minister Goh Kun would take over as interim head of state.

(China Daily March 12, 2004)