hankyoreh

during the fifth weekly candlelight rally

The foolish and wicked president was ultimately driven from power. Justice always prevails in the end. She received her just deserts for her sins of looking down on the public and exploiting government power for her own ends, which rocked the country to its very foundation. After a long winter, when spring is finally on its way, the sick and rotten branch fell to the ground. And in its place, a new shoot is starting to sprout.

While Park’s dismissal from office took the form of the Constitutional Court upholding the motion for impeachment, in reality it was the victory of common sense and reason. This was not a matter of left and right, a showdown between progressives and conservatives, or an issue of class or ideology. The candles burning in the public squares throughout the winter represented the craving for the rule of law and democracy, and the Constitutional Court responded to this with its unanimous decision for Park’s ouster.

The court’s decision was brief and to the point: “The president’s unconstitutional and unlawful behavior constituted a grave and unacceptable violation of the law from the perspective of defending the Constitution. There is a tremendous benefit to be gained in terms of defending the Constitution by removing Park from office.” The tears wept by the candles purified a world that had been defiled by unjust power, and the life that resided in those candles is dancing vigorously so that the country may be transformed.

The rule of law begins with the rejection of the ruler’s arbitrary rule. The meaning of “Constitution” is expressed in the elements of the corresponding Chinese character, pronounced “heon” (憲): we must remain vigilant with both eyes (目) and hearts (心) so that no one can harm (害) the members of society. The reason the Republic of Korea plunged instantaneously into the abyss was because the rational rule of law was replaced by the arbitrary rule of the president. By driving a stake into audacious and arbitrary rule and by sternly correcting the commander in chief who did such harm to the state, the Constitutional Court put the cause of the rule of law back on its high pedestal.

Candlelight demonstrators march from Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul to the Blue House

The court’s decision confirmed the values of the rule of law and democracy

The president’s removal is a source of both shame and pride for South Koreans. Tricked by fantasies and a concocted legend, they choose an unqualified person filled with insolence and malice as the country’s most powerful leader – a mistake that proved nearly irreversible. But South Koreans exercised their great capacity for undoing mistakes and restoring equilibrium on their own. We proved with our own bodies the ancient wisdom that water can carry a ship, but it can also capsize it. This has taken democracy one step forward. Mar. 10, 2017, will long be remembered as a day of precious victory by a civic revolution for which there is little precedent in the annals of world history.

Perhaps Park is now meditating on the sadness of “Paradise Lost.” During the last four years, the Blue House was likely a paradise that she enjoyed to her heart’s content. But for South Koreans, it was hell. The economy plummeted, main street was savaged and the country became a punching bag for the global village. Not a single place in the entire country was unaffected. While the incompetent leader has been chased away, she left behind various kinds of unfortunate baggage that remains a heavy burden for South Koreans to carry.

Despite this, Park even now refuses to show any contrition or remorse. Even after the Constitutional Court decided to remove her, she sulks in silence, without even making a statement. In the meantime, the protest by opponents of her impeachment in the streets in front of the Constitutional Court escalated into aggression and violence, and two people tragically lost their lives. If Park had any kind of conscience, she ought to have made a statement immediately after the court’s decision and humbly accepted the outcome. She should have done so to try to soothe and to calm her distraught supporters. But even at the very end, she was remiss in even her smallest of duties.

Perhaps Park is even thinking about exploiting the tragic accident during the anti-impeachment assembly to strengthen her own position. Now that she has been removed from power, her future is strewn with challenges, including an investigation by prosecutors. Park may well think that violent protests by her supporters could serve as a useful shield to hide behind. Park’s behavior to date has been a string of petty and shameless schemes motivated by her willingness to do anything at all for her own interest even if she ruins the country in the process. Park is the kind of person who would have no trouble rejecting the proposition that submitting to the Constitutional Court’s decision is the starting point of democracy. It’s really deplorable. But Park must not deceive herself: her usual tricks will not enable her to avoid the stern judgment of the law.

What is the reason for Park’s stubborn silence over the Constitutional Court’s decision?

It’s time for Park and her supporters to leave behind the turgid stream of their lunacy. The Constitutional Court’s decision confirmed that the opposition to the president’s impeachment was as futile as summer insects hurling themselves at the light. For these people to keep disgracing the South Korean flag, unable to escape their vain delusion and their blind allegiance, would be unfortunate both for themselves and for the country.

The question of Park’s impeachment was not the only decision that the Constitutional Court made. The court’s decision also represented the challenge of laying the country’s foundation anew and building a better country than we have today. The court’s decision was both the final stop for the impeachment train and also the departure point for a new endeavor. Laying a new foundation for the country does not end with establishing the rule of law and putting checks on the commander in chief. It means the liquidation of the evils that have piled up in our society over the years, including the inequality and irregularities across the country that are expressed by the phrase “Hell Joseon,” the rule-breaking and special treatment prevalent in our society, and the firmly entrenched vested interests in the political world, the government and big business.

The “cherry blossom presidential election” this May that the Constitutional Court’s decision has brought into view also has clear historical significance. In the bright sunlight of spring, it’s crucial that we lop off all the old and sickly branches so that new shoots can grow. But we still have long way to go before those new shoots start to blossom.

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