A group of South Korean ruling party lawmakers holding the balance of power in the stalled impeachment bid against President Park Geun-hye on Friday demanded she announce when she will resign by next Wednesday or face a parliamentary impeachment vote.

The ultimatum was issued during a meeting of the non-Park loyalists in the Saenuri Party that morning. 

They said they will join the opposition in the impeachment vote on Dec. 9 should the president refuse to accept their demand. 

The Saenuri dissenters rejected minor opposition parties' proposal to vote on the impeachment motion Monday. Instead, they offered to negotiate with the opposition to hammer out a bipartisan agreement by Wednesday to push for Park's voluntary resignation.

Ruling and opposition parties remained divided over how to remove President Park Geun-hye from office due to an influence-peddling scandal.

Park loyalists have suggested a voluntary resignation whereas the opposition prefer an impeachment. In the middle are the Saenuri lawmakers opposed to Park, who hold the key to determining the fate of the embattled leader.

The opposition's plan to vote on the impeachment motion on Friday was delayed as the parties diverged in reaction to the president's announcement Tuesday that she would let parliament decide her fate as president.

The splinter People's Party declined to hand in the impeachment motion to the parliament on Thursday, as Saenuri dissenters faltered after her speech. They called for more time get enough votes from the governing party.

In order for the impeachment motion to pass, 200 lawmakers of the 300-seat National Assembly need to vote for it. The opposition and independent lawmakers are 28 seats short of the necessary two-thirds majority and therefore must persuade the non-Park faction in the ruling Saenuri Party to join forces as well.

The Saenuri group supporting the impeachment said Friday it will continue talks with the opposition parties on the president's voluntary resignation.

They earlier agreed with Park loyalists to push to let the president step down voluntarily by April and hold the presidential election in June. The election is originally scheduled for December. (Yonhap)