Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans held a candlelight vigil in a celebrative mood on Saturday as parliament has voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a massive political scandal. 
Braving cold weather, protesters took to the streets demanding Park's imminent resignation for the seventh week, but this time, a more festive mood was felt as the National Assembly approved a motion to impeach Park a day earlier, according to (Yonhap) news agency. 
On Friday, parliament passed the motion to impeach Park in a 234-56 vote over a scandal involving the president and her long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil. 
Prosecutors accused Park of being an accomplice in the scandal in which Choi allegedly meddled in state affairs and pressured conglomerates into making donations to two foundations controlled by her by using her close ties to Park. 
Now the ball is passed to the Constitutional Court which will review the legitimacy of the motion within 180 days. 
Since late October, Park has made three public apologies over the scandal. But public anger has not eased, making hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets for weeks. 
On Saturday, organizers estimated about 800,000 protesters gathered in central Seoul, smaller than some 1.7 million tallied for last week, in what could have been the biggest rally ever. 
Park's five-year single term is supposed to end in February 2018 with the next presidential election originally slated for December next year. But if the court endorses the impeachment, a presidential election should be held within 60 days by law.

Source: QNA