hankyoreh

On Dec. 9, the motion for the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye passed the National Assembly by an overwhelming margin. The National Assembly – which is to say, the people – cast a vote of no confidence against a leader who had turned her back on the people. This historic decision was made possible by millions of candles that glowed in public squares. It is indeed marvelous that public sentiment was able to confirm once again Article 1 of the South Korean Constitution, which says that the Republic of Korea is a democratic republic and that all political power emanates from the people.

But the decision to impeach Park is not the end of this people’s revolution. Park is getting ready to fight the people. There is no telling when the Constitutional Court will make its decision about the motion for impeachment. Amid this uncertainty, the National Assembly’s decision to impeach Park must be the starting point for the cries of the people that have echoed through the squares to lead to major change throughout South Korean politics and society.

Looking back at the entire impeachment process in the National Assembly, it is undeniable that it was not any particular parties or groups but rather the collective intelligence of ordinary people that led this historic bloodless revolution. While politicians vacillated between various solutions such as voluntary resignation, orderly resignation and impeachment, it was only the power of the people that stiffened the resolve of wavering politicians on both sides of the aisle and brought them to vote in favor of impeachment. Thus, the peaceful voices on the plaza forced the National Assembly to impeach Park, which is a precious accomplishment with few precedents in the world’s political history. This experience must create an opportunity to bring common sense and normality back to politics.

Participants try to march with candles from the area around Gyeongbok Palace to the Blue House

A glorious revolution brought about by the power of the people

The protesters in the squares do not want this to end with the National Assembly’s impeachment of Park. The demand for Park to step down was not the only slogan that was shouted during the candlelight rallies at Gwanghwamun Square that have continued for nearly two months. Anger over wealth being passed down, justice disappearing, and inequality and polarization worsening in South Korean society -- symbolized by Jung Yoo-ra’s (Choi Sun-sil’s daughter) unfair admission to Ewha Woman’s University – were the long-smoldering coals that ignited millions of candles around the country.

We must not try to wind down the protests now that Park, a single person, has been impeached, since this would mean disregarding the cries for a transformation of the whole society, including its politics, economy and culture. Finding a way for the diverse voices of South Koreans to continue to be reflected in politics is a critical task that cannot be delayed any longer. After the impeachment, both the ruling and opposition parties must realize that if they only focus on their immediate political interests in the next presidential election, they will face a much greater crisis.

Park Geun-hye’s impeachment spells the end of the Park Chung-hee paradigm that has been the foundation of South Korean conservatism. The biggest reason that Park Geun-hye was chosen by the people in the presidential election in Dec. 2012 was the halo of her father and former president Park Chung-hee (1961-79). Park Geun-hye imitated the style of governance that her father had used in the 1970s.

Park embraced the various evils of the Park Chung-hee paradigm: governance that depends upon the organs of power such as the prosecutors and intelligence agencies; cozy ties between the government and big business, with the president rewarding the chaebols for funding her personal interests; denial of the basic rights of workers and the general public; and focusing on the struggle against North Korea. This, we have learned, was the essence of the Choi Sun-sil influence-peddling scandal. The right wing, the establishment media and the Saenuri Party have passed off far-right fascism as “conservative values,” and it is now time for them to part ways with the Park Chung-hee mythology. We hope that this crisis will give these groups a chance to be transformed into healthier and more reasonable conservatives.

The candles will not be going out in the future, either. We must not allow a repeat of what happened in the revolution in April 1960 or the protests of June 1987, when the popular fervor went no further than partial reform of the political system. To accomplish this, there is an urgent need for President Park to step down as quickly as possible. Park pledged to allow the National Assembly to decide whether she should step down. Now that both the public and the National Assembly have clearly expressed their lack of confidence, Park ought to simplify things by stepping down, without any need to wait for the Constitutional Court’s decision. Allowing the leadership vacuum and chaos in the government to continue for more than two months while dragging out her legal battle as long as possible is not how Park should treat the people who trusted her with their votes.

surrounding a police barricade

Uprooting the Park Chung-hee paradigm

Not only Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn but the cabinet that he is leading need to act on the assumption that they too have been “politically impeached.” The current cabinet – along with the Saenuri Party – long ago lost the public trust. We hope that lawmakers from the opposition parties and Saenuri Party lawmakers who are not in the pro-Park wing will immediately began discussing the question of replacing the caretaker government under Hwang. Allowing such figures to steer the ship of state for even a few months is inappropriate given the urgent need to restore momentum to the government and deal with the economic crisis.

What is even more important is for South Korean society to shift with courage and pride in the direction indicated by the demonstrations. The vote for Park’s impeachment is the starting point for sweeping away the wrongs that beset society. It must serve as an opportunity to initiate significant reforms in various sectors that ignored or covered up Park and Choi Sun-sil’s influence-peddling, including the chaebols, the conservative media and government bodies such as the prosecutors. Politicians need to start working to provide legal and institutional support for these reforms.

If the National Assembly and politicians only treat Park’s impeachment as the beginning of a race to win the presidency and seize power, they will surely become the targets of public fury. We must bear in mind that it was not politicians, but the people, who were instrumental in impeaching a president who wielded absolute power.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]