A ruling could take up to six months, during which time Park will remain in the presidential Blue House. Park will be formally removed from office if six of the court’s nine justices support her impeachment, and the country would then hold a presidential election within 60 days. The motion was adopted by 234 votes to 56, easily securing the required two-thirds majority in the 300-seat chamber. Park later apologized for her “negligence,” telling a meeting of her Cabinet that she took seriously the parliament’s actions and the voices of the people who have been protesting over the corruption scandal. She said she would prepare for a court review of the impeachment. At the time of going to print Hwang was due to make a speech at 8 p.m. The impeachment motion had accused Park of constitutional and criminal violations ranging from a failure to protect people’s lives to bribery and abuse of power. The anonymous paper ballot was conducted against the background din of hundreds of slogan-chanting protesters outside the assembly building, screaming “Impeach Park.” The result marked a startling fall from grace for a politician who had run for the Blue House as an incorruptible candidate, declaring herself beholden to nobody and “married to the nation.” After just under four years in power, the woman once called the “Queen of Elections” for her ability to pull off wins for her party now faces the prospect of going down in history as the first democratically-elected South Korean president to be kicked out of office. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he said he did not believe the confusion in South Korea would have any effect on regional security in East Asia but “we have to wait and see how the things will turn out.” “South Korea is the most important neighbor country for Japan and shares strategic interests with us,” he said. South Korea’s defense minister on Friday ordered heightened military readiness to brace for any possible provocation by North Korea after the South’s President Park Geun-hye was impeached by lawmakers. Supported by all 171 opposition and independent lawmakers, its adoption was made possible by an anti-Park faction within the president’s Saenuri party. The entire opposition had threatened to resign their seats immediately if the motion was defeated. The push for impeachment was driven by massive protests that have seen millions take to the streets of Seoul and other cities in recent weeks, demanding Park’s ouster. The scandal that has engulfed the president and paralyzed her administration has focused on her friendship with long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil. Choi has been charged with meddling in state affairs and using her Blue House connections to force dozens of conglomerates to donate around $70 million to two foundations she controlled. In a first for a sitting South Korean president, Park has been named a “suspect” by prosecutors investigating the case. South Korean lawmakers last voted to impeach a president in 2004, when they accused late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun of minor election law violations and incompetence. The court restored Roh’s powers about two months later, ruling that his wrongdoings weren’t serious enough to justify his unseating. The chances of the court reinstating Park are considered low because her charges are much graver. However, some legal experts say the court might need more than a couple of months to decide. This is because Park’s case is much more complicated than Roh’s, and because her lawyers will likely press the court not to uphold the impeachment unless the suspicions against her are proven. Friday’s vote was a remarkable fall for Park, the daughter of slain military dictator Park Chung-hee who convincingly beat her liberal opponent in 2012. Park’s single, five-year term was originally set to end Feb. 24, 2018. The political turmoil around Park comes after years of frustration over a leadership style that inspired comparisons to her father’s. Critics saw in Park an unwillingness to tolerate dissent as her government cracked down on press freedom, pushed to dissolve a leftist party and allowed aggressive police suppression of anti-government protests, which saw the death of an activist in 2016. She also was heavily criticized over her government’s handling of the 2014 ferry sinking, a disaster partially blamed on official incompetence and corruption. Park has repeatedly apologized over the public anger caused by the latest scandal, but has denied any legal wrongdoings. She attempted to avoid impeachment last month by making a conditional offer to step down if parliament comes up with a stable power-transfer plan, but the overture was dismissed by opposition lawmakers as a stalling ploy. Talking with leaders of her conservative ruling party on Tuesday, Park said she would make “every available effort” to prepare for the court’s impeachment review. In indicting Choi, and two former presidential aides last month, state prosecutors said they believed the president was “collusively involved” in criminal activities by the suspects. Choi and the two former aides were accused of bullying large companies into providing tens of millions of dollars and favors to foundations and businesses Choi controlled, and enabling Choi to interfere with state affairs. Park’s lawyer has called the accusations groundless and said she would only cooperate with an independent probe led by a special prosecutor. Park first met Choi in the 1970s, around the time Park was acting as first lady after her mother was killed during a 1974 assassination attempt on her father. Choi’s father, a shadowy figure named Choi Tae-min who was a Buddhist monk, a religious cult leader and a Christian pastor at different times, emerged as Park’s mentor. The Choi clan has long been suspected of building a fortune by using their connections with Park to extort companies and government organizations. Choi’s ex-husband is also a former close aide of Park’s.