I think long time Korea watcher Michael Breen is spot on with this assessment of the impeachment of President Park:
Compared to many countries, South Korea is fiercely democratic. But South Koreans want to be better. After each election, the winner is allowed to act like a short-term monarch and everyone blessed with a connection looks for advantage. By the end of the fourth year, the stench of favor is too much, and approval ratings plunge so low that the outgoing president is considered a liability by his own party’s next candidate. Of the five democratically elected presidents before Park, one was jailed, another committed suicide to avoid a prosecution investigation, and the other three saw their family members go to jail. Now, Park is the first to actually be tossed out.
Although disappointing on the policy front, Park, in all fairness, has been no worse than the others on the moral front. In fact, being unmarried—and, as far as we know, never even having had a boyfriend—as well as being distanced from her siblings, she was assumed to be free of the complications that dogged her predecessors. So, when it turned out she had a best friend who enjoyed unheard of privileges, whose daughter rode a horse in the Olympics, and who received unfair entrance to a university, the country went ape. [The Atlantic]
You can read the rest at the link, but Michael Breen goes on to explain how the establishment knew Park had to go because of how unpopular she had become and the size of the protests against her and thus impeachment was inevitable.
For anyone that has been waiting to see a Choi Soon-shil inspired movie hit the big the screen well here it is:
Choi Soon-sil and Jeong-Kyung-soon
The massive presidential scandal involving Choi Soon-sil, the central figure who allegedly abused former Korean President Park Geun-hye’s authority to amass wealth, will be made into a comedy movie.
“Gate” will be directed by Shin Jae-ho, a comedy-movie director. It will star renowned Korean actress Jeong Kyung-soon as “Aeree,” a character allegedly based on Choi, Park’s longtime friend.
Shin told The Korea Times: “I picked up the idea of the movie from the scandal, but I will not specify Aeree as Choi Soon-sil. Also, the movie’s main story is not about Aeree , but a small family living in a suburb.”
Shin dismissed the idea that the impeached former president was taken into account in the plot, saying there is a character in the movie “who talks to Aeree but she is not based on any real person.” [Korea Times]
Presidential hopefuls of the conservative Bareun Party — Yoo Seong-min (L), a lawmaker of the party, and Gyeonggi Gov. Nam Kyung-pil — pose for a photo prior to a TV debate in Seoul on March 25, 2017. South Korea is preparing for the May 9 presidential election after the ouster of President Park Geun-hye on March 10. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Kim Soon-kwon, a chair professor at Handong Global University and also known as “Dr. Corn” for his expertise in growing maize, holds a press conference in the southeastern city of Ulsan on March 23, 2017, to make a declaration to run in the May 9 presidential election. (Yonhap)
ROK-US relations could be interesting in the coming years considering how many of the liberal Presidential candidates have plans to appease China and North Korea:
However, only a minor opposition Justice Party has proposed a resolution against China’s increasing pressure on South Korea. In the past, the opposition lawmakers, which had showed a pro-China attitude under former President Roh Moo-hyun, contributed to worsening the relations between South Korea and the U.S. They are now calling for reversing the decision on the deployment of missile defense system, while not making any complaints about China’s irrational retaliatory actions against South Korean companies. Will they show the same attitude if the U.S. comes up with similar retaliatory behaviors?
China stood on North Korea’s side over the sinking of the Cheonan on March 26, 2010. Furthermore, the U.S. had to eliminate its plan on military drills against North Korea with its aircraft carrier in the West Sea after meeting with strong opposition from China. The second West Sea Defense Day Ceremony was held at the Daejeon National Cemetery on Thursday in order to honor and remember soldiers killed from the sinking of the Cheonan, the second battle of Yeonpyeong and the bombing of Yeonpyeong Island. However, opposition party members, including leading presidential candidates, Choo Mi-ae, head of the main opposition Democratic Party, and Park Jie-won, head of the People’s Party, did not show up at the event. It seems that opposition party members are putting a presidential election over national security, making the public feel anxious about South Korea’s national security if they win the election in May. [Donga Ilbo]
It is pretty clear that Danish authorities waited until the political drama concluded in South Korea before decided to send Chung home. I think this was smart on their part because they protected her from clearly being used as a tool to get a political outcome. With the impeachment of Park Geun-hye she is now no where near as valuable to the political opposition:
The Danish prosecution said Friday it decided to extradite the daughter of ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s close friend for an investigation into a high-profile scandal that removed Park from office.
“It is the assessment of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that all conditions to extradite a South Korean woman to her home country are met,” the prosecution said in a press release.
Chung Yoo-ra was arrested in the European country’s northern city of Aalborg in January as the Korean investigators put her on a wanted list. It was suspected that she received inappropriate academic and financial favors based on her mother’s close ties with the former leader.
“Chung Yoo-ra has three days to decide whether she will bring the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions before the Danish courts,” the prosecution said. “If that happens, the District Court of Aalborg will be the first instance.”
Chung’s lawyer reportedly informed the Danish prosecution that Chung will appeal the decision.
“We believe this is highly political, and we have a fear that they want her to be able to press the mother,” Peter Martin Blinkenberg was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. [Yonhap]
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]
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]
