[Weekender] Farewell to 2016

In 2016 South Korea struggled with a historic triple whammy -- political chaos set off by a presidential scandal, ever-deepening economic difficulties and diplomatic and security woes in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests. 

This year posed pressing tasks of propping up the slowing economy. As workers have lost jobs, household debt began soaring. Industries that were once part of the mainstay of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, such as autos, shipbuilding and shipping, started showing serious signs of slumping, restructuring or even bankruptcy.

Yet the headstrong northern neighbor brought in 2016 on a rocky start with an underground detonation on Jan. 6, followed by another launch of a long-range missile a month later. 

The Park Geun-hye administration responded by announcing it would station the US anti-missile asset the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense as a countermeasure to Pyongyang’s growing threats. It also shut down the Kaesong industrial park, a longstanding symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement, sending ties into a tailspin.

The THAAD decision, meanwhile, triggered a stringent protest from China, which sees the system as being directed at it. After a series of diplomatic spats with Seoul, Beijing began taking thinly veiled retaliation, restricting the imports of Korean goods and popular cultural products. 

Small and mid-size enterprises were among the hardest hit. Then in late September, they met double trouble as a strict anti-graft law took effect, putting a brake on the decadeslong customs of exchanging pricey gifts, especially on national holidays.

In October, the Choi Soon-sil scandal swept through the nation. Revelations poured in day after day detailing how the president’s civilian friend had allegedly meddled in state affairs, peddled her influence in raking in 77.4 billion won ($64 million) to slush funds and landed her underachieving horse-riding daughter admission to a top university.

Infuriated and disillusioned, citizens took to the streets. Saturday after Saturday, as many as 2.32 million Koreans gathered across the country, shouting first for Park’s resignation, then her impeachment.

On Dec. 9, the National Assembly passed a motion for impeachment against the disgraced leader. 

Also at the center of the scandal are family-run conglomerates that had given money to Choi’s makeshift foundations. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the chiefs of nine chaebol -- including Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG and SK -- were called in to be grilled in a nationally televised session by lawmakers. Caving to pressure, some of the tycoons promised to back out from the Federation of Korean Industries, a business lobby accused of having pressed the groups to make the donations.

The citizens’ fight to oust Park is not yet finished, with the Constitutional Court set to deliberate on whether to approve the motion.

The impeachment campaign also brought about a historic transformation in political circles -- the ruling conservative Saenuri Party has broken into two for the first time in more than two decades, while a fresh consortium of reform-minded conservatives and liberals await next year’s expected presidential election.

For many Koreans, 2016 may have been a year to forget. Faced with yet another tumultuous year, the next administration, should it be realized by the permanent removal of Park, will have to cater to people’s hopes for real, lasting change. Outside challenges also remain palpable, given North Korea’s evolving nuclear capabilities, China’s steadfast resistance to THAAD and uncertainties associated with the US leadership transition to Donald Trump.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)