The next Presidential election will soon happen in the ROK:
Korea will elect its next president on May 9, the government said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, acting president since Park Geun-hye’s presidential impeachment on Dec. 9, 2016, hosted a cabinet meeting and endorsed the plan.
Interior Minister Hong Yun-sik held a press conference and announced the date. Election day will be designated a holiday. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
It will be very interesting to see if the prosecutors get anything to stick to Park Geun-hye:
Prosecutors said Wednesday they have informed former President Park Geun-hye to show up for a questioning on March 21, 2017. Park will be questioned as a suspect in an abuse of power and corruption scandal.
The Constitutional Court permanently removed Park from office on Friday, lifting the presidential immunity that has shielded her from criminal prosecution. A special investigation team headed by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief Lee Young-ryeol is currently investigating the allegations.
Independent counsel Park Young-soo handed over unfinished cases against Park to the prosecution last week. The special investigation team, which started the initial probe into the scandal involving Park, her inner circle and large business groups at the end of last year, was revived. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
The below article once again uses the term that Japan has not given a “sincere apology” for its transgressions during World War II, but I have yet to see these critics demand that China apologize for their transgressions during the Korean War that killed millions of Koreans and ensured the continued division of the country. The same Chinese government is now actively trying to economically punish the country for defending itself from the Kim regime the Chinese continue to back. Despite all of this just one guy can be found protesting outside the Chinese embassy while critics can’t wait to end a security deal with Japan that enhances the ROK’s security:
Calls are expected to mount for reconsideration of former President Park Geun-hye’s controversial policies following her removal from power, Friday.
They include the county’s sex slavery deal with Japan, which has drawn strong protests from victims.
In accordance with the agreement in 2015 to resolve disputes over Tokyo’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, Japan offered 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) to give aid to the surviving victims of wartime sex slavery. But it still has faced strong objections from opposition parties and civic groups, arguing that Tokyo has yet to offer a sincere apology for its wrongdoings conducted during the 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea.
The country’s leading presidential contenders, including Moon Jae-in from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung, have called for a reassessment of the accord.
The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Tokyo is one of the Park administration’s key policies that is likely to be reviewed.
The military intelligence-sharing pact — signed in November last year — has stirred up a strong backlash from opposition parties and civic groups, who accused the Park government of pushing for it despite the then growing calls for Park to step aside from all state affairs due to the corruption scandal involving Park and her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil. [Korea Times]
For people who have followed South Korean politics for many years what former President Park was removed from office for is something that past Presidents have arguably done. How many shady corruption scandals have past ROK Presidents’ family and friends been involved in? For example Park’s shady friend is no where near as bad as former President Kim Dae-jung’s cash for summit scandal with North Korea. The ROK Constitutional Court says it has decided to end the bad political customs that have effected Korean politics with their ruling. I guess we will see if in the future every ROK President is now impeached for corruption scandals involving close friends or relatives:
“The president must exert her powers in respect to the Constitution and laws and her performance of her public duty must be transparently revealed for public evaluation,” Lee said. “But Park completely hid Choi’s intervention in state affairs. Whenever suspicions were raised, she denied and even criticized those raising the questions. Therefore, the checking and monitoring ability of constitutional institutions such as the National Assembly and media failed to function.”
(……..)
The court also announced supplementary opinions regarding Park’s alleged nonfeasance during the Sewol ferry’s sinking, in which 304 passengers died on April 16, 2014 due to a weak government rescue operation. Although the judges agreed that her nonfeasance during the tragedy could not be used as grounds for dismissal, Judges Kim Yi-su and Lee Jin-sung said Park did fail her constitutional duty to faithfully serve as the president and a public servant. Judge Ahn Chang-ho also gave the opinion that the impeachment trial was not an ideological contest, but a matter of protecting the constitutional order, and dismissal was necessary to end bad political customs. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Could you imagine what the body count would be if the Constitutional Court did not approve the impeachment?:
Emergency medical crews treat a pro-Park protester who collapsed after having breathing problems on a street in front of Anguk Station, near the Constitutional Court, Friday. / Yonhap
Two people died and five were hurt on Friday during a demonstration protesting the Constitutional Court’s decision to impeach former Korean President Park Geun-hye. The incidents happened near the court in central Seoul.
The court’s eight judges announced their unanimous decision before noon.
A man surnamed Kim, 60, was found unconscious near Anguk subway station, near the court, about 12:15 p.m., according to the National Police Agency. He was taken to a hospital but died.
A man in his 70s, surnamed Kim, was found with a head injury near the station. He was bleeding heavily and taken to a hospital but also died.
Five protesters were injured, according to Newsis. A man in his 50s was injured after falling off the roof of a police bus near the station about 1:50 p.m. Reports said he stabbed himself in the abdomen, saying “I will save the President risking my own life.” [Korea Times]
The time is set for the ROK Constitutional Court to announce their ruling on the impeachment of President Park:
This image shows President Park Geun-hye (R) and Lee Jung-mi, acting chief justice of the Constitutional Court. (Yonhap)
The Constitutional Court will deliver its ruling on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye Friday, a court official said.
The announcement will be made at 11 a.m. and broadcast live from the main courtroom, court spokesman Bae Bo-yoon said Wednesday.
If the court upholds the impeachment, Park will be permanently removed from office and South Korea will be required to hold a presidential election within 60 days.
If the court rejects her impeachment, Park will be immediately reinstated to serve out her term through February. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised to see riots in the streets if President Park is not impeached. On the flip side if she is impeached I am really curious to see what the evidence against her is?
I am really curious what evidence the prosecutors have against President Park that she committed bribery because I have yet to see any?:
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye was named a bribery suspect on Tuesday as special prosecutors wrapped up their three-month probe into a massive influence-peddling scandal.
The probe team, led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, suspects that the president colluded with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil and took bribes from the country’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group in return for business favors, its spokesman Lee Kyu-chul said.
President Park, currently awaiting the Constitutional Court’s decision on her impeachment, will not face charges for now as an incumbent president has immunity from criminal indictment.
State prosecutors will decide whether to continue with the investigation into Park as the deadline for the special probe team expires Tuesday.
Special prosecutors indicted Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung, on charges of giving or promising some 43.3 billion won (US$38.3 million) in bribes to the president’s jailed friend Choi in return for the government’s backing of a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015. [Yonhap]
I would not be surprised if the prosecutors named her as a bribery suspect just to appease the mobs of protesters knowing full well they don’t have any evidence to charge her.
It looks like the Korean political left is slowing coming around the the realization that the deployment of a THAAD missile defense battery to South Korea is in the security interest of the ROK:
Ahn Cheol-soo
The second largest opposition People’s Party is in a heated debate over whether to drop its opposition to the planned deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on South Korean soil.
The party adopted its official stance against THAAD in July last year soon after Seoul and Washington announced their decision to deploy the system this year to better deter nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. At the time, the party cited the negative impact on Seoul-Beijing relations and strong protest from local residents over concerns about detrimental health and environmental effects.
The move to change such a stance comes as some members, including former co-chair and leading presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo said the situation has changed. They cited the North’s latest missile launch, which showed significant progress in its missile technology, as well as the apparent assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in Malaysia last week.
“South Korea and the United States have already concluded an agreement on the deployment,” Ahn said. [Korea Times]
Things can change very quickly in South Korean politics as ROK Presidential front runner Moon Jae-in knows very well:
South Chungcheong Governor An Hee-jung’s approval rating for this year’s election rose to 19 percent in the latest poll, proving him to be a formidable contender to frontrunner Moon Jae-in and raising the prospect of a hard-fought Democratic Party primary.
In a poll by Gallup Korea, the 51-year-old two-term governor came in second with 19 percent, trailing Moon, who won 29 percent of support.
While An is still 10 percentage points behind Moon, the latest poll is an encouraging sign for his supporters considering the fast pace at which his popularity has risen: 9 percent in a matter of one week.
The poll has reaffirmed the strong position the governor has secured in recent days, as seen by the growth of his public appeal, while Moon, who ran in the 2012 race and was bitterly defeated by President Park Geun-hye, is struggling to raise his rating beyond the 30 percent range.
Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn came in third with 11 percent, up by two percent from a week earlier, demonstrating continued support from conservative voters disheartened by the Choi-gate scandal, which led to President Park’s impeachment.
Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung and Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party followed with 8 and 7 percent each. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but what is interesting is that An Hee-jung is raising his poll number by making himself the only liberal candidate so far who has come out to defend the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to Korea.
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