Uncertainty Follows Impeachment Vote in South Korea

Uncertainty Follows Impeachment Vote in South Korea

By SAMUEL LEN - New York Times

Published: March 12, 2004

EOUL, South Korea, March 12 — With just a month to go before crucial National Assembly elections, South Korea entered uncharted political waters today with President Roh Moo Hyun being stripped of his powers and the prime minister assuming leadership.

 

South Korea's opposition-dominated Parliament voted early today to impeach Mr. Roh, accusing him of illegal campaigning. It was the first time in South Korea's history that lawmakers had impeached the president.

 

Immediately after the impeachment vote, police beefed up security around the National Assembly, where around a thousand supporters of Mr. Roh rallied to protest. More were seen joining the rally as the day progressed.

 

Mr. Roh, who was elected president in December 2002, had been a human rights lawyer, and his policies won the support of many South Koreans seeking social and political changes.

 

However, he has been criticized by conservatives for his passion to continue seeking changes. His policies have been met with relentless resistance from a National Assembly dominated by his political opponents.

 

The dramatic political development raised concerns beyond the potential impact on the country's budding economic recovery and international attempts to stop North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions. It also stoked concerns of a widening and possibly violent rift between conservative South Koreans and supporters of Mr. Roh's efforts at change, political analysts said.

 

Prime Minister Goh Kun will serve as the interim leader until the constitutional court reaches a ruling on the impeachment vote. The court has up to 180 days to decide, but is not expected to take that long.

 

Mr. Goh, a career bureaucrat who was prime minister in 1997 and 1998, convened an emergency meeting with the president's national security, foreign affairs and economic ministers.

 

Political analysts said Mr. Goh's ample experience in government administration and his stable style of leadership were calming factors during a time of turmoil. But they were concerned about how a public, largely divided by liberals seeking change and stability-focused conservatives, would behave especially during an emotionally charged election season.

 

"I'm worried that the unexpected actions of a few could trigger emotions and possibly lead to an uncontrollable situation," said Baek Seung Hyun, a political science professor at Kyung Hee University.

 

Seeking to calm the public, the prime minister said at a news conference that he would seek to maintain the direction of the Roh administration in key issues involving North Korea and U.S. relations, while stressing efforts to shield the country's economy from being affected by political uncertainties.

 

"In order to overcome this difficult time for the country, individual branches of the government must execute state affairs in a steady manner," Mr. Goh said.

 

Of the 273 members of the National Assembly, 193 voted to impeach Mr. Roh. A two-thirds vote was required.

 

Mr. Roh urged the constitutional court not to be swayed by political concerns in its ruling of the impeachment vote.

 

"I hope that even after the next few months, I will be able to live up to the promises I made to the public," Mr. Roh said on television. "I hope the constitutional court will arrive at a decision that is different from the political one" reached by the National Assembly, he said.

 

Seven out of 10 South Koreans felt the impeachment vote was improper, according to a survey of 1,018 people by Yonhap News.

 

Pro-Roh politicians likened the impeachment vote to an act of mutiny.

"What happened today was a coup d'etat carried out without guns and swords," Chung Dong Young, a lawmaker with the pro-Roh Uri Party, said in a statement.

 

The main opposition group, Grand National Party, and the opposition Millennium Democratic Party lauded the impeachment vote and said they would cooperate with the prime minister in steering state affairs.

 

"The impeachment was a judgment by the public against President Roh Moo Hyun," said the Grand National Party's spokesman, Eun Jin Su.

 

Mr. Roh raised the number of his political opponents last year when he left the Millennium Democratic Party, which had backed his bid for the presidency.

 

Legal experts said the constitutional court would have to keep a close eye on public sentiment, considering that the grounds that led to the impeachment vote were open to varying interpretation.

 

"This is not a clear-cut case," said Moon Jaewan, professor of constitutional law at Dankook University. "A ruling in favor of impeachment would carry the tremendous burden of sacking the president."

 

Mr. Roh set off the latest clash with his opponents when he said in a televised news conference last month that he wanted to do everything within legal limits to prompt votes for the Uri Party.

 

An election watchdog committee did not take punitive measures, saying Mr. Roh's comments were in response to a reporter's question and could not be interpreted as engaging in political campaigning before the 17 days that are allowed ahead of the April 15 elections. But the National Election Commission warned that Mr. Roh could unfairly prejudice voter sentiment ahead of those elections.

 

Before the impeachment vote started this morning, Mr. Roh, speaking through his aide, apologized for his part in the political fracas. But his political opponents were not satisfied, and said it was too late.

 

Soon after the apology, opposition lawmakers and security guards at the National Assembly dragged out pro-Roh politicians who had been staging a sit-in protest inside Parliament. Around 30 pro-Roh Uri Party lawmakers had been trying to keep the speaker of the assembly from approaching his podium to signal the start of the vote.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/international/asia/12CND-KORE.html

 

 

 

 

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[대통령 탄핵안 가결]이라는 역사의 페이지에서... 바로사는 대한민국과 그 구성원 공동체의 장구한 역사를 올바로 보고 올바르게 표현하기 위한 노력을 경주하는 모임입니다. 2004년 3월 12일 대한민국은 헌정 사상 유래가 없는 대통령 탄핵안 가결이라는 초유의 사태를 맞이하고 있습니다. 이것은 누구의 잘 잘못을 떠나 역사의 한 페이지이고 이 시대 역사의 현장입니다. 그렇기에 이 시대를 살아가는 우리 모두는 이 역사의 주인공이고, 이 역사의 한 페이지에 대한 산 증인입니다. 과거의 역사는 다시 쓸 수 없지만 현재의 역사는 우리의 노력에 달려 있고 미래의 역사는 과거와 현재를 기반으로 생성 될 것입니다. 과연 누가 누구를 탄핵하는 것인가, 탄핵의 사유가 되는 것인가, 누구의 잘못인가 하는 것은 개개인이 판단할 몫이지만 분명한것은 우리 모두가 이순간의 증인이자 주인공이라는 사실입니다. 역사를 논하는 우리는 역사의 두려움을 누구보다 절실히 알고 있어야 하며 이 땅에 살아왔던 우리 선조와 우리를 모두 아우르는 공동체 역사는 현재 살아 숨쉬는 우리만의 것이 아님을 알아야 할 것입니다. 우리는 이 순간의 역사에 있어서 역사의 주인공이자 역사의 증인이면서 동시에 우리 역사의 흐름을 후손들에게 물려주어야 하는 전달자임을 명심하고 그에 합당한 주체로서의 노력이 필요할 것입니다. 이번 사태가 의회쿠테타라고 생각하건 외희민주주의의 승리라고 생각하건 이것이 우리가 후손에게 물려주어야 할 역사의 한 순간임을 잊지 말아야 합니다. 이 순간 살아숨쉬는 역사의 주체로서, 산 증인으로서, 장래에는 다시 이런일이 재발되지 않도록 누구의 잘, 잘못인지 명백히 밝혀 이 사태에 대한 책임을 물을 준비를 해야 할 것입니다. 바로사 회원 여러분 ! 역사를 공부하는 學人이자 현재 역사의 주인공으로 스스로의 판단과 책임에 충실한 주체로 하나 되길 기원합니다. 후손들이 역사속에서 오늘을 어떻게 볼까 두려움을 가지게 되는 봄 날 오후.... [바로잡아야 할 역사]

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