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POLITICS-SOUTH KOREA: Frustration Rises after Impeachment Vote
By Ahn Mi-Young
SEOUL, Mar 15 (IPS) - Shame, frustration and anger are coming to the fore
among many South Koreans in a country divided after Friday's impeachment
vote in Parliament against President Roh Moo-Hyun.
In a raucous session in Parliament, opposition lawmakers forcefully
suspended Roh's power a year into his five-year term - in a way that
critics say represents an abuse of a mechanism meant to protect democratic
systems and sharpens divisions between conservatives and liberals, left and
right.
Since the Friday vote, South Koreans have been gathering to protest the
Parliament's move - and hoping that the Constitutional Court, which must
rule in the coming six months if the impeachment was valid - will nullify
the vote.
Over the weekend, more than 50,000 rallyists gathered near the U.S.
Embassy to speak out against the vote, officially taken to respond to
charges by his political foes that Roh had indulged in ''illegal
campaigning'' by calling for support his parliamentary faction ahead of the
April parliamentary elections.
''Frankly, I am not supporting President Roh, but I am here because I
feel so furious and betrayed by the (opposition) leaders' unilateral use of
force to dispel a weak president - who might be a little disappointing but
was anyway has a mandate from the people,'' said Kang Young-Sik, 35, who
joined a candlelit demonstration Friday.
On Friday evening, about 130,000 people packed the Yoido Plaza, where
the National Assembly is located, holding candles to signify their
protests. A similar protest was held Saturday.
But next to these anti-impeachment crowds, a dozen conservative groups
held placards saying 'Welcome the Impeachment. Save our Nation from North
Korea's Nuclear Threat'. The reference to North Korea was meant as a
criticism of what some say is Roh's weak position on the North's nuclear
development programme.
Roh had campaigned and won on a platform of more rapprochement with
North Korea and a more independent foreign policy vis a vis the U.S.
government, Seoul's traditional ally. He also counted on young voters for
the bulk of his electoral support, in contrast to the main opposition group
Grand National Party.
In the December 2002 polls, Roh garnered 49 percent of the vote while his
conservative opponent got 47 percent - reflecting a split that has now been
thrown into the open.
A joint survey Friday of 878 South Koreans by KBS TV and Media Research
found 69.6 percent of these respondents to be against impeachment. A total
of 28.6 percent of those polled were in favour of it.
''The lawmakers' impeachment is a shameful reversal of the nation's
17-year drive toward a transparent society and prosperous democracy,'' said
Park Jin-Do, a law professor at Chungnam National University.
The impeachment - the first in South Korea's history - has triggered
more fury than favour for opposition lawmakers, who control three-quarters
of seats in the National Assembly, and voted on Friday by 193 to two in
favour of impeachment. Many believe the vote was an apprarent attempt to
gain ground in the Apr. 15 election.
The tussle erupted in mayhem at the National Assembly on Friday, with
television cameras capturing scenes of lawmakers wrestling and hurling
things at each other.
''When I saw the scene, I felt that the clock of our history was being
turned back to the dark past of the authoritarian regimes in the 1970s and
1980s, against which we fought so hard,'' said 42-year-old Kang Jin-Chull,
adding that last week's vote represented a dictatorship of numbers.
Among the other reasons opposition lawmakers cite for impeachment are
charges that Roh received bribes during the 2002 presidential election and
incompetence in turning around the economy.
''If President Roh deserves impeachment because of political funds (that
he illegally received), then how about these opposition lawmakers?'' argued
Park Jin-Do, a law professor at Chungnam National University. ''Everybody
would smile, because we know these opposition politicians had received a
lot more (than Mr. Roh).''
For others, what is frustrating about the political fracas is how
elected lawmakers, meant to represent South Korea's citizens, are using
their power without their consent - for their own political aims - to kick
out a president that majority elected in 2002.
''I am sick and tired of politicians,'' said Suh Min-Kyong, who owns a
food store in central Daejon city. ''We've elected these lawmakers to care
of our economy, but they are squandering most of their time in political
games over past bribes and corruption.''
The South Korean economy grew 3 percent in 2003, but this expansion has
mostly been driven by the export of semiconductors, digital consumer
products and automobiles. Despite this, there is little sign of a
significant upturn for its slumping economy.
''I wish our lawmakers would seriously debate North Korea's nuclear
issue (instead). I wish they would care about four million of the mostly
young credit delinquents. I wish they could talk more about how to create
jobs for young people and how to bolster the sagging economy,'' said Byun
Hee-Jae, planning team leader for BreakNews media.
In the wake of the impeachment vote, the approval rate of for the Uri
party has surged to 34 percent, higher than the two major opposition
parties that posted 22 percent and 6.3 percent respectively, according to
the KBS-Media Research survey of Mar. 12.
The surge of pro-Roh approval represented the first rise from the
continuous drop of his approval to 30 percent in recent weeks, down from 60
percent when Roh was elected in December 2002.
This has prompted concern in some quarters that Roh's political rivals,
many of them wary of his more liberal stance, may try to postpone the April
vote to head off his popularity.
''I hope that won't happen. If that happens, there would be (another)
serious setback in the nation's drive toward democracy,'' said Park Jin-Do,
professor of Chungnam University. (END/2004)
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