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The Blue House on Mar. 10

Park Geun-hye has been waging what amounts to a silent protest since being removed from the presidency after the Constitutional Court’s Mar. 10 decision upholding her impeachment.

Park has not made any statement to appease public sentiment and call for wider unity, let alone apologized for her violations of the Constitution and law and her damage to her office. The silence may indicate that she intends not simply to protest the outcome of the trial, but to refuse to comply with it.

“Former President Park has no plans to issue any separate statement or message,” a Blue House spokesperson said on Mar. 10. In the event that the impeachment had been overturned or dismissed, Park’s attorneys had considered having her appear before the public to call for “uniting divided opinions.” Previously, her attorneys had argued for the impeachment to be overturned, claiming that the establishment of and raising of funds for the Mir and K-Sports Foundations had been an act of governance, and that Park had not been aware of Choi Sun-sil’s government interference or pursued any personal gains.

Recently, it began also arguing for a dismissal of the impeachment, claiming that the National Assembly’s voting process had not been legitimate.

Indeed, Park’s attorneys had predicted a strong chance the impeachment would be dismissed, anticipating the eight Constitutional Court Justices would vote five-to-three or four-to-four for impeachment and dismissal, respectively. Park and her advisers were reportedly stunned when the court’s ruling went against their expectations with a unanimous decision by the eight Justices to uphold the impeachment.

after the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Park Geun-hye

After the ruling on Mar. 10, Park reportedly met with Chief of Staff Han Gwang-ok at her Blue House residence, but barely spoke.

“I have nothing to say,” she was quoted as saying.

Cho Won-jin, a pro-Park Liberty Korea Party lawmaker, also visited the Blue House the same day to meet with Park, but was refused an audience, sources said. Park’s senior secretaries continued to denounced the court as having made a “political decision.”

Some are reading Park’s silence as tacit incitement of supporters in a campaign to defy the ruling. Park’s attorneys have repeatedly made the claim that the National Assembly impeachment process was illegitimate and the grounds for impeachment unacceptable. They have also voiced disgruntlement with the trial process, which they described as “unfair.” It could be read as signaling defiance of the court’s final decision.

Indeed, Park has not called on her supporters to show restraint even as the situation threatens to spin out of control, with two deaths and indiscriminate violence against reporters occurring during demonstrations against the impeachment on Mar. 10. This silence is being criticized as tacitly encouraging defiance of the impeachment ruling.

“With her silence, Park is casting aside the last shred of decency she can offer the public as a former President. For a person implicated in damage to her office, this is terribly irresponsible,” said Justice Party spokesperson Han Chang-min in a Mar. 10 statement.

“This behavior has the public concerned that she may be refusing the comply with the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which is creating greater chaos,” Han said.

As she confronts the possibility of a forcible investigation by prosecutors as a member of the general public, Park may wage an opinion campaign from outside the government, capitalizing on an organized movement by anti-impeachment groups to defy the ruling, the sympathy of her supporters, and the political assistance of pro-Park lawmakers.

In response, an attorney for Park stressed that she has “already said in her final statement to the Constitutional Court that she would ‘do her best to unite the public’s divided hearts and overcome the current chaos quickly, whatever situation happens.’”

Park will remain in the Blue House for a while longer, while her private home in Seoul’s Gangnam is being prepared.

By Choi Hye-jung, staff reporter

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