It appears that one way or another President Park is not going to complete her little over one year remaining in office after this announcement:
President Park Geun-hye speaks during an address to the nation at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Nov. 29, 2016. (Yonhap)
President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday called on parliament to determine her fate, saying she will step down in line with a timetable and procedures reached by political parties that can minimize any confusion arising from a government change.
Opposition parties dismissed the call as part of a political gambit to stall for time and thwart their impeachment push, stressing they won’t break ranks and will continue their move to oust the president.
During her third address to the nation over the corruption scandal centered on her confidante Choi Soon-sil, Park renewed her apology for her inability to address mounting public fury, but repeated her denial of any involvement in the scandal.
Earlier this month, the prosecution cited Park as an accomplice in “considerable parts” of the alleged wrongdoings carried out by Choi and her former aides — allegations denied by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
“I will entrust the National Assembly with (the task of) making decisions on issues, including the shortening of my presidential term,” she said during the five-minute address. Her single, five-year term ends in February 2018. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I think President Park probably does not want to put her political party members in a tough situation in regards to whether or not to support the impeachment vote coming up. Offering to resign buys her political party time to organize a campaign for a person to replace her. After she resigns elections are supposed to be held in 60 days. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out for President Park.
I did not realize that the only Asian who spoke at the Republican National Convention was a Korean-American that was part of Donald Trump’s National Diversity Coalition. She recently gave an interview to the Joong Ang Ilbo about the election of Donald Trump:
Lisa Shin, who served as an adviser to the National Diversity Coalition for Trump during his presidential campaign, says there is much enthusiasm about Donald J. Trump. [LISA SHIN]Among the speakers for the 2016 Republican National Convention in July was Lisa Shin, a Korean-American ophthalmologist. She was the only Asian-American who spoke at the event. Dr. Shin has served as one of the 60 advisers to the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, the U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump’s campaign organization established with the stated aim of reflecting the will of ethnic minorities in America.“I think for Hillary, she had a lot of paid people,” said Dr. Shin during a phone interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. “But I didn’t hear a lot about grass-roots activists like I did with Trump. I believe that there was so much momentum, energy and enthusiasm with Trump. Hillary was disconnected from the people. She was what we call elite. She thought she was privileged.”
Dr. Shin is expected to play an advisry role representing Korean-Americans in the Trump administration, although she has not received any formal requests from the transition team yet. The following is an excerpt from the interview. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest of the interview at the link. It will be interesting to see if she receives an appointment somewhere within the Trump administration.
The Associated Press has an article published which looks at how each President of the Republic of Korea since its founding has had scandals of some kind mar the end of their presidencies:
Former ROK Presidents Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan in prison outfits.
If there’s one thing that South Korean presidents dread more than the looming threat of rival North Korea, it may be this: becoming an ex-president.
Nearly all former presidents, or their family members and key aides, have been embroiled in scandals at the close of their terms or after leaving office. There have been corruption allegations, coups — even a suicide and an assassination.
Now, South Korean prosecutors say they believe current President Park Geun-hye, facing historic levels of unpopularity as she approaches her last year in office, conspired in the criminal activities of a confidante who allegedly exploited her presidential ties to force businesses to donate money to two foundations she controlled.
Here’s a look at the troubles faced by South Korean presidents over the years: [Associated Press]
What is probably the most disappointing thing about President Park Geun-hye for many Koreans is that they thought she would at least be a relatively scandal free Presidency since she had few immediate family members to create corruption scandals like past presidencies. However, her lack of immediate families members were replaced by cult figures that went on to do the same things that got past South Korean presidents in trouble.
This is the lowest I can remember any Korean President’s approval rating going:
A citizen holds a picket that says “Park Geun-hye Out” in front of barricades made of police buses in central Seoul on Nov. 12, 2016, during a massive rally to demand the president’s resignation over the latest influence-peddling scandal involving her confidante. (Yonhap)
Investigators have been declining to comment on possible investigation into Park, and they have not suggested that she profitted from the scandal either.
Despite suspicions by many in the country that Park profitted from the scandal, no president since Roh Tae-woo, who left office in 1993, has ever been implicated in using the office to amass personal wealth, although relatives and close associates have done so, with many going to jail for their misdeeds.
Park’s approval rating remained at a record-low 5 percent this week, according to local pollster Gallup Korea. [Yonhap]
Artistic director Cha Eun-taek, a key suspect in the influence-peddling scandal involving a close friend of President Park Geun-hye, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on Nov. 11, 2016, to attend a hearing to review the legality of his detention. Prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for Cha over suspicions that he and Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil meddled in state affairs and gained financially using Choi’s ties with the president. (Yonhap)
![Lisa Shin, who served as an adviser to the National Diversity Coalition for Trump during his presidential campaign, says there is much enthusiasm about Donald J. Trump. [LISA SHIN]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/jmnet/koreajoongangdaily/_data/photo/2016/11/25185612.jpg?resize=610%2C343)
