Opposition snubs Park’s offer to quit and presses on with impeachment bid

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has offered to step down, asking parliament to come up with a plan to ensure a smooth transition amid a corruption scandal that has riveted the nation.

Ms Park said she would step down according to a schedule agreed by lawmakers to minimise a leadership vacuum. However, her proposal was rejected by opposition politicians as a ploy to delay her impeachment.

“I have now laid everything down. I’ll leave everything about my future to parliament, including shortening my term,” the president said in a televised address. She faces mounting public calls to resign – a move she has so far resisted – as opposition lawmakers prepare to impeach her. Ms Park has 15 months left of her single five-year term but, if she were to be impeached or resign, an election would be held in 60 days.

The main opposition Democratic party dismissed her proposal and pledged to push ahead with its impeachment motion, which could be voted on as early as Friday. “She is handing the ball to parliament, when she could simply step down,” said Park Kwang-on, a Democratic party lawmaker.

Ms Park said she hoped her offer would end political confusion and put the country back on track as soon as possible. But Shin Yul, a professor of politics at Myongji University in Seoul, said the country’s political unrest would probably persist as Ms Park attempted to weather her crisis.

“She is trying to prolong this chaos by making things more complex,” he said. “The opposition should put the motion for her impeachment within this week.”

Ms Park’s approval rating has fallen to a record low of 4 per cent as her closest aides have been indicted for alleged abuse of power.

Tens of thousands of South Koreans have taken to the streets on recent weekends to demand her resignation. The protests followed allegations that her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil meddled in state affairs – influencing everything from budget proposals to what  Ms Park should wear – and extorted funds from South Korean companies.

Ms Park was named by prosecutors as a criminal “conspirator” in the scheme. She is the first South Korean president to face a criminal probe.

But she has not made herself available for interrogation by prosecutors, with her lawyer saying she would instead comply with a probe by a separate independent counsel.