An official from the Blue House said there was a possibility that Park would leave in the evening
South Korea’s impeached ex-president Park Geun-Hye left the presidential Blue House on Sunday, two days after the Constitutional Court’s verdict removing her from office over a massive corruption scandal.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said Park departed from the presidential office at around 1000 GMT and returned to her private residence in southern Seoul, where hundreds of her supporters have been protesting her ouster.
Hundreds of police officers, reporters and supporters of Park had been gathering near her Seoul home on Sunday in anticipation of her return from the presidential palace.
An official from the presidential Blue House said there was a possibility that Park would leave in the evening, two days after the country’s Constitutional Court removed her from office over a corruption scandal.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing presidential office rules.
Workers were seen carrying a television, washing machine, bed and other household items into Park’s private home.
The Constitutional Court formally removed Park from office on Friday, upholding an impeachment motion filed by lawmakers in December amid suspicions that she colluded with a confidante to extort money and favours from companies and allowed the friend to secretly manipulate state affairs.
The ruling ended a power struggle that had consumed the nation for months and marked a stunning downfall for Park, who convincingly defeated her liberal opponent in 2012 with overwhelming support from older South Koreans, who remembered her dictator father as a hero.
Park no longer has immunity from prosecution and will likely soon face a direct investigation over suspicions of extortion, bribery, abuse of power and other crimes.
She has not made a public statement since Friday’s court ruling. She earlier apologised for putting trust in her jailed friend, Choi Soon-sil, but strongly denied any legal wrongdoing.
South Korea now has to elect a new president by early May. Opinion polls show liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in 2012, as the favourite to become the country’s next leader.
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