South Korean lawmakers vote to impeach President Park

Los Angeles : President Park Geun-hye was on Friday impeached by South Korea's parliament vote out after a huge political scandal involving a childhood friend and confidant left her isolated and loathed.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn took over as acting president after Park was officially stripped of her powers just after 7 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET.

Addressing the media, Hwang said, “I stand here with grave and sad heart and feel deeply responsible for what's happening now and I am very sorry. We cannot allow any gap in the governance and I am going to do my very best to restore stability."

The impeachment occurred after a month of silent protests by hundreds of thousands of South Koreans who spilled onto the streets every month on each Saturday.

They were protesting against Park's relationship with Choi Soon-sil who is accused of massive influence peddling.

The case against 64-year-old concluded that Choi involved in criminal activities to manipulate government affairs and extort businesses.

Interestingly, Choi is the daughter of late cult leader Choi Tae-min, who himself befriended Park as a young woman after saying her assassinated mother had appeared in his dreams.

Following the allegations, the world's 11th biggest economy plunged deep down into an unprecedented crisis.

The issue also exposed a series of bizarre revelations one that showed the mass government purchasing of erectile dysfunction medication, Viagra.