South Korea after the impeachment

President Park Geun-Hye was elected in 2012 and has still 15 months left in her term. Should the impeachment be ratified, elections must be held within 60 days.

The first woman President in South Korea, Park Geun-Hye, was impeached by the Korean National Assembly this Friday, December 9, putting an end to a very tumultuous term marked by scandal. In a national speech a few days ago, the President had apologized for her wrongdoing and offered to step down and to face investigation if the National Assembly decided to do so. In order to impeach the President, two-thirds of the legislature needed to vote for approval. The final count was 234 to 56 in favor of the impeachment of the President, supported by many members of her own party. This decision still needs to be ratified by the Constitutional Court within 180 days; meanwhile the Prime Minister (who does not enjoy great popularity himself) is to take over the President’s responsibilities. But what did Park Geun-Hye do for her to get impeached?

South Korea has faced the largest anti-government protests in its history, where for several weeks, millions of South Koreans demanded the resignation of the President amidst corruption accusations against her administration. The South Korean President was accused of allowing her personal friend, Choi Soon-Sil, to have access to classified government information and use this personal relationship with the President to ask for donations for her non-profit fund. The President’s friend is under arrest facing charges for fraud, bribery and abuse of power, as she tried to extort over $70 million from the country’s biggest companies, including LG, Hyunday and Samsung. Choi is the daughter of a shaman who also enjoyed a very close relationship with the President and her father.

President Park Geun-Hye was elected in 2012 and has still 15 months left in her term. Should the impeachment be ratified, elections must be held within 60 days. The South Korean President is daughter of the well-known dictator Park Chung-Hee who ruled the country from 1961 until his assassination in 1979. He still enjoys popularity among older Koreans due to his success in rapid economic growth, which helped Park Geun-Hye win the Presidency. However, she suffered a fall in popularity down to 4% of approval after such a huge corruption scandal.

This situation creates further consequences for the security of the geopolitical area. South Korea is a very important ally of Washington, with whom it shares the preoccupation of stopping North Korea’s nuclear efforts. Additionally, being a very important leader in the region, besides the difficult strains with North Korea, the country is now facing a slowdown in economic growth and a more self-confident China. President Park Geun-Hye, who comes from a very conservative line, chose a very tough approach with respect to North Korea and has worked with the United States in order to deploy an advanced missile defense system, which China did not see with good eyes.

In case of new elections, the possibility is open for a more liberal candidate to win the Presidency changing the approach towards North Korea and China. The American missile deployment would also find trouble, as liberals have highly criticized the project preferring a more diplomatic balance between the United States and China.

On the other hand, there is hope as the South Korean institutions are proving themselves strong. The National Assembly’s vote means that the Park Chung-Hee will be the first democratically elected leader to be impeached in the history of the nation. The President is yet to address the nation on the impeachment vote.

Dott.ssa Ana Figueroa