The Choi Soon-sil scandal and the ensuing political crisis show how incapable political leaders here are of running the nation, especially in times of crisis.
Basically, the problem was that the wrong person was elected as our leader -- although it is doubtful that other choices would have done any better. Now we find that the person to whom we assigned mandate was free to abuse it.
But whatever wrong we and Park Geun-hye did are things of the past. What is important is to get to the bottom of all the allegations and hold her and her corrupt clique accountable, end the crisis and get the nation back on track.
That is not going to be an easy task. The biggest stumbling block is, of course, President Park herself. Park, who laid the groundwork for the scandal by letting her friend without a government title meddle in state affairs, is the first person who needs to do some soul-searching and take due steps.
Instead, Park lied and admitted to her misdeeds only after the media uncovered evidence for them. Underestimating public enragement, she attempted to avert the crisis by unilaterally naming key members of former liberal governments as prime minister and Cheong Wa Dae chief of staff.
Had Park nominated Kim Byong-joon after consulting with the opposition and let him form a “neutral” Cabinet, for which she was to take a backseat in running the government, the crisis would have not reached this grave level.
Park has also remained ambiguous as to how much power she is prepared to delegate to the new prime minister, which rightfully deepened public and opposition suspicion she would not hand over key presidential power.
Now facing the demand to resign voluntarily or face impeachment, Park is apparently trying to buy time. Cheong Wa Dae officials have rejected the idea of Park resigning and her defense attorney went on to challenge the prosecution’s plan to question the president.
Attorney Yoo Yeong-ha’s request at a news conference for the prosecution to delay its questioning of Park shows what’s on the president’s mind -- that she can still persevere and keep her job. For instance, Yoo said the president is entitled to a fair investigation and trial and that questioning her should be minimal and come only after investigating all the other people involved in the scandal. We bet a lot more anti-Park protesters -- far larger than the 1 million that showed up in Seoul last weekend -- will fill the streets this Saturday.
The ruling Saenuri Party also bears a fair share of the responsibility for the extended political crisis. From the outset, its mainstream faction loyal to Park was -- instead of searching their soul for abetting her governance -- bent on preserving their control of the party and standing by the beleaguered president.
The party is now on the verge of falling apart, as those who had demanded party leader Lee Jung-hyun step down have formed their own leadership council. In other words, there may not be a legitimate ruling party -- an essential partner for the opposition to work toward ending the leadership crisis and restoring political stability.
The opposition is not free from criticism either. The three major opposition parties and their leaders -- including potential presidential candidates -- have been changing their minds frequently after making carious political calculations. It was more comical than outrageous to see Choo Mi-ae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, propose a one-on-one meeting with Park only to cancel it about 10 hours later.
Now the three major opposition parties, emboldened by the massive anti-Park street protests last weekend, have united to demand Park resign, but without agreement on how to deal with the power vacuum. If the past is any guide, any such agreement would be hard to come by.
As things stand, a president who is unable to lead the nation effectively but tries to cling on to power, and a helpless ruling party are confronting an indiscreet, tactless opposition. One cannot but help be fearful of catastrophic consequences.
