[ti:South Korean President Forced from Office+++韩国总统朴槿惠被罢免下台] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.48]The South Korean Constitutional Court has removed [00:04.20]President Park Geun-hye from office. [00:07.68]All eight members of the court agreed [00:10.60]with a National Assembly measure calling for her removal. [00:15.28]The eight worked to rule on the case by Friday [00:20.36]before term limits reduced the normally nine-member court to seven justices. [00:27.88]The South Korean constitution requires at least six justices [00:34.88]to agree on any impeachment vote by the National Assembly. [00:40.76]Chief Justice Park Han-chul was forced [00:45.08]to leave the court in January when his term ended. [00:49.68]Monday will be the last day of Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi's term. [00:58.24]Lee read the ruling from the court's offices in Seoul on Friday. [01:04.36]She said Park's "acts of violating the Constitution [01:10.12]and law are a betrayal of the public trust." [01:14.76]The court also criticized Park for being uncooperative [01:20.25]and evasive in the investigations. [01:24.09]It said she tried to stop the legislature from acting [01:29.32]as a "check and balance" on presidential powers. [01:34.40]The court said Park worked with a close friend to pressure large Korean companies [01:42.52]to donate nearly $70 million to two organizations. [01:49.72]Government lawyers had also accused the friend, Choi Soon-sil, [01:55.40]of sending some of the money to businesses that she and her friends owned. [02:03.28]"These violations undermine the rule of law [02:07.44]and a representative democracy," said the acting chief justice. [02:14.04]Government lawyers studied reports that people close to the president [02:19.64]were using her office to raise millions of dollars. [02:25.04]Park has repeatedly denied the charges against her. [02:30.40]Until the reports of corruption appeared, [02:33.96]many South Koreans believed she was a strong and honest leader. [02:39.80]Two people died in protests near the court building [02:45.40]after the ruling was announced. [02:48.84]Thousands of Park supporters and opponents [02:52.68]held competing demonstrations in the area. [02:57.72]More than 21,000 police officers were sent there [03:02.68]to prevent clashes between the groups. [03:07.12]The constitution requires Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn [03:14.88]to set a date for a new presidential election. [03:19.76]The vote is to be held within 60 days. [03:25.32]In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner [03:30.16]released a statement after the court's ruling. [03:34.27]It said the United States "will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang [03:41.24]for the remainder of his tenure as acting president, [03:45.80]and we look forward to a productive relationship with whomsoever [03:52.00]the people of South Korea elect to be the next president." [03:58.44]The statement said the United States will continue to be a [04:03.56]"steadfast ally, friend and partner" to South Korea, " [04:08.96]especially with respect to defending against the threat from North Korea." [04:16.36]The South Korean military has been watching North Korea closely [04:22.16]since the impeachment vote to guard against [04:26.00]North Korean interference in the South's politics. [04:31.20]The 64-year-old Park was the country's first female head of state. [04:39.28]She is now the first democratically elected South Korean president to be removed from office. [04:47.56]Park had been part of the nation's political community since she was a child. [04:54.96]She is the daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, [04:59.04]who ruled from 1961 to 1979. [05:05.96]She helped her father for five years after her mother, [05:10.40]who was well-liked in South Korea, was shot to death by a North Korean agent. [05:17.52]The killer was aiming for the president. [05:23.16]Park Chung-hee was killed by the head of South Korea's intelligence agency in 1979. [05:31.34]Before becoming president, Park Guen-hye served five terms as a lawmaker. [05:39.04]She campaigned unsuccessfully for president [05:42.96]before winning election to a five year term. [05:48.28]In December, 234 members of the 300-seat National Assembly voted to impeach her. [05:57.89]Park said any actions she took were to benefit the country. [06:04.84]She said she has never personally benefited from her time in office. [06:10.88]She apologized publicly three times for not knowing that people close to her [06:17.76]may have been involved in some wrongdoing. [06:22.64]While in office, she could not be tried on criminal charges. [06:28.40]Earlier this week, a special prosecutor was named [06:32.68]to investigate the charges of corruption. [06:37.08]I'm Mario Ritter. [06:40.20]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM