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Apr. 14. (Blue House photo pool)

With a list left by Sung Wan-jong causing the greatest crisis that Park Geun-hye has faced since being inaugurated as president, her plans to leave the country on Apr. 16 on a tour of four countries in Central and South America is expected to deal another blow to the current administration.

Not only is April 16 the anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry, but the overseas tour schedule that the Blue House made public on Tuesday raises questions about whether Park really needs to risk a public uproar by leaving the country on that day.

The opposition party is pushing even harder for Park’s trip to be delayed, accusing her of using the overseas tour to avoid the Sung Wan-jong scandal.

On Apr. 14, Blue House Secretary for Foreign Affairs and National Security Ju Cheol-gi briefed the press on the schedule and significance of Park‘s tour of the four countries.

“Central and South America are a land of opportunity, a place where we can reveal the potential for exchange and cooperation in diverse areas - including ICT, electronic government, nuclear power, and large-scale infrastructure - based on the cultural affinity created by the spread of Hallyu [the Korean Wave],” Ju said.

“We intend to follow up on the second Middle Eastern boom initiated by Park’s earlier tour of the Middle East by extending the reach of the South Korean economy across the Pacific Ocean.”

The Blue House also explained that Park would be accompanied on the trip by an economic delegation representing a total of 125 companies, which will be the largest such delegation in history.

According to the schedule provided by the Blue House, on Apr. 17, the day that Park arrives in Colombia, the first country on the tour, there will be a business forum for the two countries, an official welcome ceremony, a summit between Park and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, and the signing of an MOU. Colombia was selected as the first country to visit because Santos‘s schedule made it difficult for Park to visit Colombia at the end of the trip, the Blue House explained.

However, politicians and the media are asking whether President Park should really be leaving the country on the first anniversary of the Sewol sinking in order to accommodate the schedule of the president of Colombia. It was not as if the Blue House was unaware of the Sewol anniversary, and it should never have scheduled her departure for that date, critics say.

There were also objections inside the Blue House to the timing of the trip, but no one came forward to officially call it into question, sources say.

When asked about the opposition’s argument that the trip should be delayed because of the Sung Wan-jong scandal and the first anniversary of the Sewol sinking, Ju said, “There is no good reason to delay the trip, and it must go forward as planned. We have to create opportunities to help the economy, and ethnic Koreans in Central and South America are looking forward to the trip, so we will do what needs to be done.”

“Amid an unprecedented scandal about corruption in the highest ranks of government, it is hard to believe that President Park is nonchalantly planning to go on an overseas trip,” said Yu Eun-hye, spokesperson for the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, during a press briefing at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“As if it were not enough that there is public concern and opposition to her plans to leave the country on the first anniversary of the Sewol tragedy, the country has been thrown into an uproar with the Prime Minister and former presidential chiefs of staff all facing an investigation by the prosecutors. At such a time as this, it is absurd for President Park to be absent.”

By Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent

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