By Emma Emeozor

Park Chung-hee made history in February 2016 with her inauguration as South Korea’s first female president. Her vision was to create “a new era of hopes and happiness” for Koreans. But her tall dreams crumbled on December 9, 2016, when she was impeached by the National Assembly over allegations of extortion, abuse of power, bribery, influence-peddling, cult activities and leaks of classified information. She was the 11th president and daughter of former President Park Chung-hee who ruled the country from 1961 to 1979 as the third president of South Korea.
Named by Forbes magazine as the most powerful woman of East Asia for 2013 and 2014, Park becomes the second South Korean president to be impeached. Former President Roh Moo-Hymn was impeached in 2004 for violating election laws. Also, she becomes the second female president to be impeached this year, the first being former President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached under the cloud of alleged corruption, influence-peddling and protection of corrupt party members.
Unarguably, South Korea is a nation of pride in East Asia, having transformed from subsistence agriculture to one of the fastest growing economies of the world, achieving industrial levels that have removed it from the chart of third world countries. Even then, corruption has remained endemic in the country. Its first president after it became a republic in 1960, Syngman Rhee, was replaced in 1960 due to his autocratic rule and corruption.
The government of Park’s father was also accused of autocratic rule and corruption. The fight against corruption seems to be a difficult one for Korea as it has become a plague in the country. The far-reaching implications of the Korean situation are aptly summarised by a conservative newspaper. Reports quoted the newspaper saying that “eight in 10 middle-class Koreans feel poor.”
Angry young Koreans have described the country as “Hell Joseon,” an allusion to the level of poverty among the masses, in the midst of plenty. No fewer than 1,600 civic societies participated in the candlelight demonstrations that climaxed in the impeachment of Park. Angry demonstrators had called for Park’s immediate resignation. Reports said a day after her impeachment, nearly a million people participated in one of the demonstrations in Seoul, the capital city. But beyond the demonstrations and the impeachment of Park, what hopes are there that the monster of corruption will be tamed?

Her road to stardom
Born on February 2, 1952, in Taegu, North Gyeongsang, Park was the first of three children. She studied electronic engineering in Sogang University, receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1974. This was after she graduated from the Sacred Heart Girls High School, Seoul, in 1970. She was studying at Grenoble University, France, when her mother, Yuk Young Soo, was killed on August 15, 1974, in an assassination attempt on her father in the National Theatre of Korea. The assassination, which was carried out by a member of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, Mum Se-gwang, would force Park to return to Seoul to take up the responsibility of a stand-in First Lady for her father at the age of 22. She played this role until her father was assassinated on October 26, 1979, by the chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (now National Korean Central Intelligence Service), Kim Jae-Gyu. It is of note that her father was the only Korean president not disgraced from office. These incidents did not dampen her hopes and aspirations.
Rather, she drew inspiration from them to achieve political progress that would culminate in her becoming the nation’s number one citizen. From 1998, she represented the constituency of Dalseongu, Daegu, in the National Assembly, on the platform of the Grand National Party. She was elected Vice Chairman of the party in 1998 and twice became the chairman of the party between 2004 and 2006.
Her first attempt at the presidency was in 2007 but she lost at the party nomination level. After the Grand National Party was renamed as the Saenuri Party in February 2012, she was elected to serve a fifth term in the National Assembly. In August 2012, she won the party’s nomination as its presidential candidate. She has been severally honoured within and outside South Korea.

Her legacy
There is no doubt that her father provided a strong platform for her rise to power. South Koreans are generally conservative and would not cut with their past easily. Though her father was considered a dictator, South Korea witnessed “most dramatic period of economic development” in his time. He transformed the country from post-war poverty to industrialised wealth. Reports said she was “backed mostly by older Koreans who had hoped she would be a contemporary version of her father.”
Cardinal to the objectives of her administration were “creativity-oriented education and cultural enrichment,” “a job-centred creative economy,” “tailored employment and welfare,” “strong security measures for sustainable peace on the Korean peninsula” and “a safe and united society.”
She vowed to eradicate four major social evils: unsafe food, domestic violence, sexual violence and school violence. Consequently, she set up a National Unity Committee, as an advisory body on resolving conflicts. Her aim was to create an enabling environment of co-prosperity and co-existence. On the international front, she established strong bilateral relations with powers in Asia and Europe, including China, the United States, Russia and Australia.

Road to public odium
Trouble started after a report of the activities of her childhood friend and shadow confidante was made public. The president was accused of helping Choi Soon-sil in forcing big businesses, including Samsung and Hyundai, to release millions of dollars in donation to her two foundations.
The president was also accused of leaking state information to Choi. The case of an old computer hard drive belonging to Choi, which contained information on ministerial candidates and North Korea was cited. Choi was further accused of taking advantage of the president’s wardrobe budget, buying her “cheap outfits” and keeping the change. Other allegations against Park included bribery, abuse of power, and attempted fraud. Curiously, the presidency was accused of purchasing 364 erectile dysfunction K6 tablets. Also in the list was the allegation that the president held cult activities by hosting Shamanist rituals at the presidential compound (Blue House) even as “many of the lurid claims are unsubstantiated.”

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Who is Choi Soon-sil
According to South Korean media, Choi Soon-sil is the daughter of the founder of a cult group, the Church of Eternal Life, Choi Tae-min. Reports said the group performs Shamanist rituals. Choi Tae-min is described as a pseudo-Christian leader with claims that he had been visited by the soul of Park’s late mother who asked him to guide her.
At the time Park’s father was assassinated, she and the younger Choi were already tight friends. After the death of Park’s father, Choi senior became a mentor. There were speculations that the spy chief who killed Park’s father was “worried the president was being manipulated by the man dubbed ‘the Korean Rasputin.’” Reports also said “critics believe Choi perpetuated her father’s habits in the presidency.” Put differently, Choi was manipulating Park the way her father manipulated her the elder Park.

Choi, presidential aides in custody
Already, Choi is in custody. According to some reports, when she was questioned in October, she said she had committed an “unpardonable crime.” But her lawyer insists “this was not a legal admission of guilt.” A number of former aides of Park have been investigated. Park’s Senior Secretary for Policy Co-ordination, An Chong-bum, has been charged with abuse of authority, coercion and attempted coercion.  Another aide, Jung Ho-sung, was accused of passing classified presidential documents to Choi.
Meanwhile, the South Korean media is said to be busy trailing “colourful associates of Choi who were close to the president, including various celebrities and her personal trainer, who was appointed as a president aide.”

The process of sacking Park
Following the successful motion for her impeachment, the President will remain suspended from office until the Constitutional Court passes a verdict. Already, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has taken over as Acting President, though  he is unpopular and an appointee and loyalist of Park. While 234 legislators voted in secret ballot to impeach her, 56 voted in her favour, which means nearly half of the 128 legislators in Park’s party, the Saenuri, had joined the opposition in moving to oust her.
Though her powers are suspended for now, she retains her official title and her salary until she is finally removed from office. The Constitutional Court of nine judges has 60 days from the day of her impeachment to rule on the matter. It is a rigorous process as the court would have to wait for the independent counsel to finish investigating all the allegations against the president. Park could be finally removed from office if six of the judges support her impeachment. On the other hand, if six of the judges oppose her impeachment, she would return to office to end her single five-year term in February, 2018. South Korea’s Constitution allows only one term of five years for the president.

Park’s reaction
Until the public outrage, Park did not consider her activities with Choi offensive in the eyes of the people and the law. She thought she was above the law as she was initially defiant and refused to answer questions on the matter.
According to reports, the gravity of the allegations only dawned on her after she heard of the disclosure that an old computer hard drive belonging to Choi contained classified documents she had sent her. This, according to her critics, was clear evidence that she was “irresponsibly managing official information.” A shocked Park went on air to tender an apology for causing “public distress.” Standing before the cameras, Park said her dealings with Choi was “with a pure heart.”
She admitted consulting Choi for advice, adding that Choi helped her edit her speeches, but this stopped once she had a team of advisers in place, she said. While noting that that there were some lapses, Park said: “Regardless of what the reason may be, I am sorry that the scandal has caused national concern and I humbly apologise to the people.”
Perhaps to further convince the people of her sincerity, she said: “… Sad thoughts trouble my sleep at night. I realise that, whatever I do, it will be difficult to mend the hearts of the people, and then I feel a sense of shame”. But was her apology an admission of guilt?
The demonstrations that fuelled Park’s impeachment
South Korea is a traditional society that transformed with time to what is now described by political commentators as a “Republic of Demonstrations.” Democracy was enthroned in the country in 1987 following mass protests. As Celeste L. Arrington, an assistant professor of political science at George Washington University, United States, put it, “the impeachment vote only reinforced the legitimacy of demonstration as a form of political participation.”
No fewer than 1.7 million people participated in one of the demonstrations against Park. There was no arrest as in past demonstrations. Motoko Rich, the Times, Tokyo bureau chief, captured the political advancement in South Korea when he said the mass turnout and the failure of the police to arrest demonstrators was “a sign of how far South Korea’s democracy has matured.”
Indications are that demonstrations may continue until Park finally quits office. Park has said she will challenge the impeachment vote in court. She is the first president to lose an impeachment vote since 2004. Former President Roy was returned to office two months after he was impeached because the Constitutional Court ruled that his offense “was too minor to justify impeachment.” Park faces more serious allegations than Roy.

When a nation divorces its president
There is much to learn, especially by political gladiators, from Park’s political woes. In an evolving society in the 21st Century, it is becoming difficult for political dynasties to emerge or thrive. Park’s father ruled South Korea for 18 years, with a mixed bag of economic development and autocratic rule. Park was on the train to re-enact the same pattern her father fostered on the people.
Her case shows how soon political leaders forget pledges to respect the will of the people, the Constitution, to lead with humility and candour. But, more significantly, it brings to  the fore how a resilient society could contribute to the enthronement of strong democratic values.
For Park to have come down from the Presidential Palace to apologise and for the people, including members of her party, to have rejected her apology is instructive on what true democracy and accountability is all about.