The largest nationwide anti-government protest held Saturday has raised the level of disapproval over President Park Geun-hye within the ruling Saenuri Party, with a ranking member even calling for her impeachment.

Rep. Kim Moo-sung, a former Saenuri leader, said Sunday that the party should impeach Park for violating the constitutional obligation as a head of state, holding her liable for letting her friend Choi soon-sil meddle in state affairs. 

“My view is that the president should eventually be impeached in the name of the people,” Kim said in an emergency press announcement. Though once a close aide to Park, Kim has been estranged from her over policy differences since 2012 and now leads a dissenting group of a faction close to Park.

“The reason why it is so hard to address the problem is because the president is standing at the center of a constitutional violation, as opposed to protecting the Constitution. The people’s cries yesterday were their judgment on the president. She should respond to it without further hesitation,” he said.

According to the Constitution, an impeachment motion requires approval by two-thirds of the 300-member National Assembly where 171 opposition lawmakers take seats. If at least 30 Saenuri members cast votes across the aisle, the parliamentary floor may legitimately endorse the motion.

Kim’s remark came during a meeting at the National Assembly where more than 90 incumbent lawmakers and rank-and-file members gathered to discuss ways to navigate the biggest political crisis faced by conservative party.

The attendees -- most of whom were dissenters of the Pro-park faction -- agreed to demand the party leadership resign en masse and cut ties to the president by depriving Park of Saenuri membership. If the president left the party, Saenuri would lose governing party status.

Faced with mounting criticism, Saenuri leader Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, standard-bearer of the pro-Park faction, vowed to elect a new leader next January and leave his position when political parties agree to set up a new Cabinet. In the meantime, Lee said he would steer the party.

Buoyed by the unprecedented turnout of protestors at the candlelight rally Saturday, opposition parties also threatened to take an “ultimate measure” -- alluding at a campaign for Park’s resignation or a parliament-led impeachment -- unless the president abandons her governing authority.

“In order to bring the nation back on track, President Park must solve the problem by herself” said Democratic Party leader Rep. Choo Mi-ae during the party’s emergency meeting later in the day. “Otherwise, we are left with no choice but to take back the power that Constitution and the people gave her.”

By mentioning “taking back” the president’s power, Choo appears to left open the possibility that the main opposition could pursue the impeachment of Park -- a measure that the party had previously deemed too complicated to push through.

Until now, the opposition bloc’s leaders have largely refrained from explicitly demanding for the president’s voluntary resignation or an impeachment. They have instead urged the president to distant herself from state affairs by transferring her power to the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

But the calls for Park’s resignation have gained ground among political bigwigs of the opposition parties and their presidential hopefuls. The move is expected to pick up pace in the wake of the Saturday rally, which was the largest protest in Korea since the country established a democratic government back in 1987.

Participating in Saturday’s rally were the political bigwigs of the opposition camp -- including the Democratic Party’s leader Rep. Choo Mi-ae and the party’s former chief and leading presidential aspirant Rep. Moon Jae-in. It was their first appearance at the series of protests demanding the ousting of Park.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)