President Park Geun-hye was impeached and all of her powers suspended Friday by the South Korean parliament in an overwhelming 234-56 vote. The vote came against a background of demonstrations in the streets by an estimated more than 2 million protesters, a popularity rating for Park that had hit a low of 4 percent and a poll that indicated that 8 in 10 South Koreans were ready to see her go. The basic cause of their discontent with her as president turned on extensive evidence of crony capitalism.

Choi Soon-sil, a close, unelected, nongovernmental confidante of Park, also described as her spiritual adviser, was deeply immersed in Park’s exercise of her governmental functions, and was particularly active in shaking down South Korean companies and their executives, to her profit and, presumably, to Park’s as well. One charge against Park and Choi was that the president had shared with her confidential government documents that she was not authorized to see.

Park’s impeachment will need to be reviewed by South Korea’s Constitutional Court for its validity and the court has 180 days -- until June -- to do so, although it may choose to act more quickly in response to popular pressure. In the meantime, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, not even a member of parliament, will be in charge. If the impeachment is found legitimate, new presidential elections will follow.

This period is not the easiest for South Korea to go through with its presidency somewhat up in the air. North Korea is under new pressure from the UN Security Council, which imposed additional economic sanctions on it late last month, including on its coal exports, in response to its continuing defiance of previous UN resolutions regarding its nuclear weapons activities.

Worst of all from North Korea’s point of view, China, its best customer, voted for the new sanctions, although it is not certain that China will enforce the measure, for its own reasons. The risk for South Korea of this period of uncertainty is that the sometimes unpredictable Kim Jong-un of North Korea may see this period as an opportunity for mischief, or even an attack, in the fluid leadership situation in the south.

South Korea is also looking at some uncertainty in its relationship with the United States as it passes from the presidency of Barack Obama to that of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has suggested that a country like South Korea, the world’s 12th-largest economy, should finance for itself the US military protection it receives. There are currently 28,500 US troops and many bases in South Korea.

South Korea’s democracy has traveled a rocky road since World War II, with dictators and military rulers, including Park’s father, until it moved to elective democracy in 1987. The country’s democracy is fully expected to survive the current storm, proving that it can handle an impeachment, but the coming months won’t be easy.

(Tribune Content Agency/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Editorial