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• South korea president free#

Certainly there have been a number of scandals involving presidents in the past, often to do with corruption in terms of money. “The sheer extent of this scandal is one they really haven’t come across before. The saga, triggered by weeks of media reports, has sent Park’s approval ratings to record lows, and the minority opposition Justice Party has called for her to resign.Īl Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from Seoul, said the scandal has taken South Koreans by complete surprise. Prosecutors had previously summoned some of Choi’s key associates and raided their homes and workplaces, as well as the offices of two nonprofit foundations Choi supposedly controlled. Prosecutors on Saturday widened their investigation by searching the homes of presidential officials suspected of interacting with Choi and receiving their office files from the Blue House – the presidential office and residence. READ MORE: War games – US and South Korea stage exercises

There’s also media speculation that Choi, who holds no government job, meddled in government decisions on personnel and policy and exploited her ties with Park to misappropriate funds from nonprofit organisations. Her televised apology sparked intense criticism about her mismanagement of national information and a heavy-handed leadership style that many see as lacking in transparency. Park has been facing calls to reshuffle her office and cabinet after acknowledging on Tuesday that she provided longtime friend Choi Soon-sil with drafts of her speeches for editing. “Park has lost her authority as president and showed she doesn’t have the basic qualities to govern a country,” Jae-myung Lee, from the opposition Minjoo Party and the mayor of the city of Seongnam, told the protesters from a stage. Police estimated that about 9,000 people turned out for the biggest anti-government demonstration in Seoul in months. The frustration many South Koreans feel with collusion and graft pushed Moon to victory.War games: US and South Korea stage exercies This is a key step to bring people back into the political process and give them an effective voice. Constitutional reform is needed to end the country’s imperial presidency and return power to the National Assembly. Moon must work to rebuilding trust between the people and the political elite. The movement that brought millions into the streets of Seoul wants political and institutional reform with greater transparency and more popular participation. But that scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. Moon painted himself as the antidote to Park’s corrupt, authoritarian administration. Even if Moon achieves this mammoth task, he will still have to tackle South Korea’s rising youth unemployment and its overreliance on an export economy that made it vulnerable to economic retaliation.

Moon has promised to revive the flagging economy while curbing the chaebols’ power. The scandal that saw the former president arrested on corruption charges highlighted South Korea’s dependence on huge family-owned businesses, or “chaebol,” such as Samsung. Protesters celebrate the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, March 11, 2017. Trying to please both sides will be a diplomatic high wire act. China accounts for US$131 billion in South Korean export trade, while the number of Chinese tourists quadrupled to 8 million over the last five years, bringing in some $8 billion in duty-free sales alone. China has criticized the deployment of THAAD as an act of aggression aimed at China and retaliated economically by slowing Chinese tourism to South Korea. Moon also has fences to mend with China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner.

South korea president free#

And, Trump has suggested that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement will be renegotiated. Trump stressed the importance of the alliance with South Korea, but also said that South Korea should pay for the anti-missile THAAD system the U.S. Trump has voiced the possibility of unilateral action against North Korea, but also suggested that he would be honored to meet Kim Jong-un. Moon needs to manage the Trump administration’s conflicted approach to the region. and China, Moon will try to pursue an independent foreign policy. Two important alliesĬaught between the U.S. Top right: Park Chung-hee was the longest-serving President, taking power during the 1961 coup d'etat, sometimes named as the Tiger of Yushin Constitution in the 1970s. Top left: Rhee Syng-man became the first President of the Republic of Korea in 1948. If Moon plans a “Sunshine Policy 2.0” – a revival of dialogue and economic aid to North Korea – he’ll need to convince critics that resuming economic cooperation will not fund Kim Jong-un’s nuclear program. Presidential Standard and Seal of the President of South Korea. The nuclear issue is now central to inter-Korean relations. On the campaign trail, Moon repeatedly stated he is open to negotiations with North Korea and willing to meet Kim Jong-un. Moon, the son of refugees from North Korea, favors engagement and cooperation with North Korea.