tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/choi-soon-sil-33193/articlesChoi Soon-sil – The Conversation2017-10-26T19:09:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/855932017-10-26T19:09:17Z2017-10-26T19:09:17ZSouth Korea’s public broadcasters are in an impossible political position<p>Compared with their counterparts in other democratic countries, South Korea’s national public broadcasters are politically vulnerable.</p>
<p>Tied to whichever government is in power, they are saddled with a compromised board system and limited options for editorial independence across TV, radio and online content. </p>
<p>This has led to strikes demanding freedom from political influence. Most recently, the unionised staff at two of Korea’s largest broadcasters – the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) – <a href="http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2017/09/137_236151.html">walked off the job</a> in September.</p>
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<p>Although a version of KBS launched in the 1920s under the Japanese colonial government, KBS TV was established in 1961 by the Korean military dictator Park Jung-Hee. It was owned and operated by the state until 1973, when it transformed into a national public broadcaster.</p>
<p>MBC, on the other hand, started as a commercial entity in the 1960s. It was forced to become a public broadcaster during the 1980 media reforms. These placed all existing broadcasters under the umbrella of “public service broadcasting”. </p>
<p>Not currently run by the government, it is majority-owned by the Foundation of Broadcast Culture (FBC), which is subject to political influence. For this reason, it is widely seen as a public broadcaster.</p>
<p>From this patchwork of businesses, Korean television broadcasting has become a highly politicised industry – one that is troublingly susceptible to state intervention. </p>
<h2>A lack of mission</h2>
<p>From the beginning, public service broadcasting in Korea has operated without a clear justification for its existence as a non-commercial nor non-politically-influenced institution. </p>
<p>This is especially true when it comes to funding. KBS’s revenue comes from licence fees and advertising, while MBC’s funding is solely from advertising. </p>
<p>The board members of KBS and the MBC are selected on the basis of their political and ideological stance. This is not always the case in other regions. For example, the board members of Australia’s public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), are appointed as part of an arguably merit-based and transparent <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014C00721">selection process</a>.</p>
<p>In South Korea, the board members of KBS and FBC, the public organisation responsible for MBC management, are all directly or indirectly appointed by the Korean president at the recommendation of the National Assembly, the country’s legislature. </p>
<p>For KBS, this includes seven members associated with the ruling party and four from the opposition party. For FBC, there are six and three, respectively. </p>
<p>Also, unlike <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014C00721">in Australia</a>, no laws specify the role of public service broadcasting. The absence of legal guidelines has created a situation where both KBS and MBC are in competition with each other, and with other commercial broadcasters like the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS). </p>
<h2>The political lapdogs</h2>
<p>Korea’s public broadcasters have periodically attempted “self-censorship” in support of the government of the day. </p>
<p>During progressive governments (1998-2007), the presidents of the two public broadcasters were more or less handpicked by the progressive presidents, and their boards were controlled by party-supported members.</p>
<p>During recent conservative governments (from 2008 to April 2017), the conservative-supported presidents and board members largely dictated programming.</p>
<p>In this sense, Korea’s public broadcasters have operated more like an arm of government than as independent public broadcasters.</p>
<p>For example, during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-you-should-know-about-south-koreas-political-scandal-the-same-old-story-but-with-a-twist-68722">Choi Soon-Sil scandal</a> – a case of political corruption that emerged in 2016 and led to President Park Keun-Hye’s impeachment in March 2017 – both KBS and MBC failed to provide accurate, objective news. </p>
<p>In particular, at the initial stage of the scandal, their coverage was biased in favour of President Park.</p>
<p>Likewise, in 2004 when the progressive President Rho Mu-Hyun was impeached, KBS and MBC coverage was biased in favour of the incumbent president and the ruling progressive party.</p>
<h2>No will to change</h2>
<p>The politicisation of the public broadcasters in Korea has created profound internal conflicts. </p>
<p>Encouraged by the progressive candidate’s victory in the 2017 presidential election, the progressive unions within KBS and MBC went <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/09/371_235931.html">on strike</a> in September. They demand the resignation of the president of each of the two stations and editorial independence. </p>
<p>It is not the first time that the unions have staged strikes against alleged management interference in news coverage. The same unions held a strike <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/10/world/la-fg-korea-media-strike-20120711">for several months in 2012</a> in protest of the conservative President Lee Myung-Bak government’s attempt to control the media, but it subsided without success. </p>
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<p>The current Moon Jae-In government – via the unions and the government regulator, the Korean Communication Commission – is pressuring the conservative-supported board members of KBS and FBC to stand down. They are also attempting to oust the presidents of KBS and MBC, who had been handpicked by former President Park.</p>
<p>This time around, the government and ruling progressive party support the strike. It’s likely to achieve some of its aims: two conservative-supported board members of FBC have already stepped down in recent weeks.</p>
<p>Yet we have seen this before. In 2008, the conservative president Lee Myung-Bak and his administration also forced the progressive president of KBS and board members to resign. </p>
<p>This is the key problem: the presidency will continue changing hands. If the government and ruling party control the appointment of personnel, and have a say in the editorial process, Korea’s public broadcasters will always be compromised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85593/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ki-Sung Kwak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Compared with their counterparts in other democratic countries, South Korea’s national public broadcasters are politically vulnerable.Ki-Sung Kwak, Associate Professor, Department of Korean Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/749802017-03-31T06:24:15Z2017-03-31T06:24:15ZWhat South Korean president Park’s political demise means for the region’s geopolitics<p>South Korea’s former president, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/world/asia/park-geun-hye-south-korea-arrest.html?emc=edit_mbe_20170331&nl=morning-briefing-europe&nlid=64524812&te=1&_r=0">Park Geun-hye, has been arrested</a> on charges including extortion, bribery and abuse of power over <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39335211">an influence-peddling scandal</a> that led to her impeachment by the National Assembly in December 2016. That decision was upheld by the Constitutional Court in March.</p>
<p>An election to decide on her replacement will be held on May 9, and it could see profound changes in South Korean foreign policy. </p>
<p><a href="http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/787054.html">According to opinion polls, the most likely person to be elected</a> president is opposition leader Moon Jae-in, of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea. A civil rights lawyer (and former Special Forces paratrooper during his military service), Moon was the campaign manager and chief of staff for his friend and political mentor, former president Roh Mu-hyun (February 2003 to March 2004 and May 2004 to February 2008). </p>
<p>A year after he left office, Roh died by jumping off a mountain cliff; his brother was indicted for corruption, and he and other members of his family had been under investigation. </p>
<p>Despite his ties to Roh, if Moon still manages to win the election by riding the wave of opprobrium against Park’s conservative Liberal Korea Party, he will <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2078081/moon-jae-could-become-south-koreas-next-leader-he-too-soft-job">confront serious domestic and foreign policy challenges</a>. </p>
<h2>A broad mandate</h2>
<p>Moon’s potential mandate will encompass his calls for <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-samsung-and-south-korea-in-cracking-down-on-corruption-74383">reform of conglomerates</a>, known in South Korea as <em>chaebol</em>. The head of the biggest of these conglomerates <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/17/choi-gate-samsung-heir-lee-jae-yong-formally-arrested-for-corruption">Lee Jae-yong was arrested in February</a> for allegedly paying millions of dollars in bribes to Park’s friend and key player in the scandal Choi Soon-sil, who is also in custody. </p>
<p>Moon will need to address the nation’s worsening economic inequality, as well as employment insecurity and subsequent cost-of-living pressures that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-09/korea-s-park-impeached-as-protesters-vent-anger-over-corruption">lay behind the public outrage</a> and mass demonstrations which led to Park’s ousting.</p>
<p>In foreign affairs, <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/03/11/national/politics-diplomacy/parks-downfall-muddles-japans-options-comfort-women-issue-north-korea/#.WNotARJ968V">Moon may seek to renegotiate the deal</a> made by Park’s government at the end of 2015 with Japan, which promised compensation payments for the wartime abuse of Korean women as sex slaves (euphemistically known as “comfort women”). The deal is already under strain, as Japan’s ambassador to South Korea was recalled in February <a href="https://theconversation.com/japan-and-south-koreas-latest-row-could-have-deeper-consequences-71044">over a statue commemorating the sex slaves</a> being placed outside the Japanese consulate in Busan. Similar statues have since appeared in other cities around the world.</p>
<p>Any deterioration in relations between Japan and South Korea will again frustrate long-running <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201703230047.html">diplomatic efforts by the United States to reconcile</a> its key Northeast Asian military allies. <a href="http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20161124/p2a/00m/0na/008000c">Recently increased security cooperation</a>, particularly in intelligence sharing, may also be under threat.</p>
<p>The most significant foreign policy issue to confront Moon will be relations with the ever-belligerent Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and the <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/09/120_213610.html">US deployment to South Korea of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense</a> (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system, decided on by the Obama administration in July 2016. </p>
<p>Moon has expressed a <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/03/12/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/ex-special-forces-soldier-top-presidential-aide-moon-lead-replace-ousted-south-korean-leader/">desire to improve relations with the North</a>, and said he is willing to visit Pyongyang to do so. This raises the prospect of <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2000/dae-jung-facts.html">restoring the “Sunshine policy” of the Kim Dae-jung</a> (1998-2003) and Roh Mu-hyun governments, which <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2016/07/when-sunshine-ruled-on-the-korean-peninsula/">saw extensive trade relations</a> between the two separated countries from 1998 to 2008, including significant investment by South Korean companies, and family reunions and tourist visits to the North. </p>
<h2>Regional implications</h2>
<p>Under the oppressive rule of its authoritarian leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea would certainly exploit Moon’s ambivalent position on THAAD. Along with a rowdy anti-THAAD protest movement in South Korea, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/12/new-south-korean-president-may-warm-to-north-korea.html">Kim could press for him to withdraw it</a> as a precondition for any chance of resuming improved relations.</p>
<p>THAAD is also firmly resisted by China, which fears the system’s powerful radar will be <a href="http://contemporarysecuritypolicy.org/2017/02/07/what-really-bothers-china-about-thaad-missile-defense/">used to monitor and potentially interdict</a> its own strategic missile forces. <a href="http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2017/03/30/russias-stake-in-the-thaad-debate/">Russia is similarly opposed</a>, despite US declarations that THAAD is solely to counter the North Korean missile threat. </p>
<p>There is hence a risk that THAAD deployment may encourage China, North Korea, and Russia to <a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a25752/all-about-thaad-the-missile-killer-straining-us-south-korean-chinese-ties/">expand their nuclear arsenals further</a>. </p>
<p>China has already taken a hostile posture towards South Korea over THAAD. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-south-korea-economic-boycott-protests-over-thaad-missile-system-2017-3?r=US&IR=T">Various products and services from the country</a>, including highly popular television dramas and tours by K-pop performers have been banned; boycotts by Chinese tourists are being encouraged; and stores run in China by the <em>chaebol</em> Lotte have been closed for “safety inspections”. South Korea has <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-china-thaad-idUSKBN16R03D">protested these actions</a> to the World Trade Organization. </p>
<p>Moon is thus already under immense pressure from China, which poses a dire threat to any prospect of the economic recovery he hopes to restore. Should he become president, Moon will certainly head off promptly to Beijing in an attempt to assuage China’s concerns. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the powerful South Korean military and intelligence service, the KCIA, would likely join the US <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/world/asia/thaad-missile-defense-us-south-korea-china.html?_r=0">in trying to convince Moon to hold firm</a> on THAAD deployment.</p>
<h2>North Korean concerns</h2>
<p>On his first trip to Asia – covering Japan, South Korea and China – North Korea’s missile threat was US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s dominant concern. Tillerson declared in Tokyo and Seoul that past US policy towards North Korea had failed, and <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/03/16/tillerson-says-new-approach-needed-denuclearising-north-korea">a “new approach” was needed</a>. </p>
<p>Although no further details were offered, Tillerson stated that “all options were on the table”, implying that <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-fg-tillerson-asia-20170317-story.html">preemptive military strikes by the US against North Korea</a> may be under consideration.</p>
<p>The recent series of North Korean missile tests is already the most pressing foreign policy issue confronting the Trump administration in Asia. In 2016, North Korea conducted 24 missile tests, and two nuclear weapon tests, in <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12603.doc.htm">repeated violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions</a>. </p>
<p>The first test of 2017 was conducted on February 11, during <a href="https://theconversation.com/has-abe-got-trumps-measure-golf-diplomacy-puts-japan-back-on-the-green-72739">Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit</a> to the United States. On March 6, a salvo of four missiles was launched by North Korea towards the Sea of Japan, <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/03/09/national/politics-diplomacy/north-korean-missile-splashdown-closest-far-japans-mainland-government-says/">landing the closest so far</a> to the main Japanese islands. The <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/06/asia/thaad-arrival-south-korea/">US began deployment of the THAAD system</a> in South Korea a day later.</p>
<p>The most recent missile test on March 22 was <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/north-korea-fails-missile-test-south-170322041232058.html">said by the US and South Korea to have been a failure</a>. It came just after North Korea declared a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-24/north-korea-claims-successful-solid-fuel-rocket-engine-test/7274542">successful test of a solid-fuel rocket engine</a>, which is vital to its plans for developing operational intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. These would – theoretically, at least – be capable of reaching mainland United States.</p>
<p>But despite US President Donald Trump’s recent condemnation of North Korea “<a href="http://time.com/4706269/trump-north-korea-kim-acting-badly/">acting very, very badly</a>”, his administration is confronted with the same dilemma faced by all others since armistice was declared in the Korean War in 1953.</p>
<p>Any military action to punish North Korea risks escalation into a massively destructive war that could engulf South Korea and Japan, and threaten the stability of the Asia-Pacific region and the global economy. While the DPRK would face its own destruction in such a scenario, <a href="https://theconversation.com/north-korea-and-the-dangers-of-trumps-diplomacy-free-asia-strategy-74494">it has long calculated</a> that the US would not risk such an escalation.</p>
<p>A withdrawal of THAAD from South Korea would be a clear strategic gain for North Korea, China, and Russia. To compensate, the United States would have no alternative but to deploy it to Japan, something Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would be more than happy with. </p>
<p>Beyond her own personal humiliation, the ramifications of Park’s fall are already reverberating from domestic South Korean politics into the fraught geopolitics of Northeast Asia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74980/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Mark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Beyond her own personal humiliation, the ramifications of Park’s fall are already reverberating from domestic South Korean politics into the fraught geopolitics of Northeast Asia.Craig Mark, Professor, Kyoritsu Women's UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/691622016-11-30T07:44:27Z2016-11-30T07:44:27ZSouth Korean protests the first to bring down a president in a long history of civic activism<p>The president of South Korea has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/world/asia/park-geun-hye-south-korea-resign.html?emc=edit_na_20161129&nlid=64524812&ref=headline&_r=0">announced she is willing to resign</a> before the end of her five-year term. Park Geun-Hye made the announcement during her third televised apology to the nation, over a corruption scandal that has gripped the country for weeks. </p>
<p>She has left it to the National Assembly to decide the timing of her departure for a smooth transition of power.</p>
<p>The move comes <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/world/asia/south-korea-park-geun-hye-impeachment.html?emc=edit_ae_20161127&nl=todaysheadlines-asia&nlid=64524812&_r=1">only two days after her refusal to step down</a> and has been interpreted as an attempt to head off an impending impeachment in the National Assembly, and as a concession to a series of large protests by South Koreans. </p>
<p>Despite the cold and snow, South Koreans held what is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/world/asia/korea-park-geun-hye-protests.html?emc=edit_th_20161127&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=64524812">thought to be the largest protest yet</a> on Saturday November 26, calling on President Park to resign. She has been struggling with an ongoing influence-peddling scandal involving a long-term friend and confidant, Choi Soon-sil, which may <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/world/asia/south-korea-park-geun-hye-impeachment.html?emc=edit_ae_20161127&nl=todaysheadlines-asia&nlid=64524812&_r=1">still lead to her prosecution</a>. </p>
<h2>Growing protests</h2>
<p>The protest was the latest in a series of marches that have been held <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/world/asia/korea-park-geun-hye-protests.html">every Saturday since the scandal</a> broke in October. Crowds have included teenagers in school uniforms, young parents carrying strollers, senior citizens, and even opposition party leaders, all holding candles and signs calling for the president to stand down. </p>
<p>Although organisers and police have frequently been at odds about the number of people attending, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-26/hundreds-of-thousands-of-koreans-protest-against-park-geun-hye/8060800?WT.mc_id=newsmail&WT.tsrc=Newsmail">media reports have noted</a> that the gatherings are the largest political protests since the <a href="http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/south-koreans-win-mass-campaign-democracy-1986-87">1986-1987 rallies that brought about democratisation</a> after years of authoritarianism. </p>
<p>Alleged corruption scandals involving the cronies and families of presidents are <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-you-should-know-about-south-koreas-political-scandal-the-same-old-story-but-with-a-twist-68722">not unusual in South Korean politics</a>, but they have not usually led to such a strong public response. Former presidents have all been plunged into these kinds of scandals in the latter years of their tenure. </p>
<p>The first president after democratisation in 1987, Roh Tae-Woo (1988-1993), was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-17/news/mn-4124_1_roh-tae-woo">charged with corruption after he left office</a> and sentenced to 17 years in prison. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9705/15/skorea.scandal/">The second son of president Kim Young-Sam</a> (1993-1998) was involved in a bribery scandal in May 1997, while Kim was still in the office. A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/20/news/son-of-kim-dae-jung-held-in-bribery-scandal.html">similar scandal</a> plagued Nobel prize-winning president Kim Dae-Jung (1998-2003) five years later. </p>
<p>Another bribery scandal involved Roh Mu-hyun (2003-2008), who was a human rights lawyer before becoming president. Roh <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/world/asia/24roh.html">killed himself in 2009</a>. </p>
<p>Park’s predecessor, Lee Myung-Bak (2008-2013), <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-18792840">also became embroiled in a bribery scandal</a> involving his elder brother. </p>
<h2>Why so angry?</h2>
<p>Despite political scandals and controversies affecting every president since South Korea’s democratisation, <a href="http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Can-Park-resign-South-Korea-s-constitution-is-unclear">every president has finished</a> their five-year term since the nation’s current constitution came into effect in 1987.</p>
<p>What’s different this time? Perhaps the involvement of Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is alleged to have extorted millions of dollars from South Korean businesses with the president’s help. Two close aides – An Chong-Bum and Jeong Ho-Seong – have <a href="http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=3026413">also been formally charged</a>. </p>
<p>Park’s supporters have dismissed the accusations against the president as a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/world/asia/park-geun-hye-south-korea-extortion-accomplice-prosecutors.html?_r=0">“witch hunt” and said the protesters are running a “people’s court”</a>. </p>
<p>Park made two other apologies – <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/29/asia/south-korea-reshuffle/">on October 25</a> and <a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/focus/2016/11/04/91/1700000000AEN20161104010700315F.html">on November 4</a> – since the scandal erupted. But her <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-poll-idUSKBN13603G">approval rating continued to drop</a>.</p>
<p>The protesters’ core criticism of Park is <a href="http://www.atimes.com/article/making-korea-great/">she has embarrassed the country</a>. Many have expressed their sense of betrayal by an elected leader who is <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-south-korea-us-20161114-story.html">alleged to have shared power</a> with her unelected friend. </p>
<p>Apart from the extortion charges Choi is facing, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/world/asia/south-korea-park-geun-hye-impeachment.html?emc=edit_ae_20161127&nl=todaysheadlines-asia&nlid=64524812&_r=1">she is thought to have</a> edited Park’s speeches, had access to confidential government documents and advised Park on what to wear.</p>
<h2>A history of civic engagement</h2>
<p>South Korea has a history of political protests and direct participation that dates from <a href="http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/south-koreans-win-mass-campaign-democracy-1986-87">even earlier than 1987</a>. </p>
<p>The All People’s Conference (<em>Manmin Kongdonghoe</em>) originally started as a <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780819199140/Dr.-Philip-Jaisohn's-Reform-Movement-1896-1898-A-Critical-Appraisal-of-the-Independence-Club">subordinate civic group of the Independence Club</a> (<em>Dongnip Hyeophoe</em>) that was an association formed by reform-minded elites in 1897. Now defunct, it evolved into a congress of Koreans in 1898. </p>
<p>Then there was <a href="http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/koreans-protest-japanese-control-march-1st-movement-1919">1919 March 1st Movement</a>, one of the earliest examples of Korean resistance against Japanese colonial rule, which began in 1910. And the 1960 <a href="http://adst.org/2013/04/the-fall-of-south-korean-strongman-syngman-rhee-april-26-1960/">April 19 Revolution</a> was a popular uprising against the Rhee Syng-Man administration’s electoral corruption. </p>
<p>It brought about Rhee’s resignation, but <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/05/633_155532.html">South Korea’s short-lived democracy soon ended</a> as the current president’s father, Park Chung-Hee seized power with a coup d'etat in May of the following year.</p>
<p>Civic culture clearly remains vibrant in South Korea as the mass demonstrations across the past five Saturdays illustrate. These recent protests are a sign that the South Korean people are willing and eager to play an active role in the political modernisation of their country.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eunjung Lim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After weeks of mass demonstrations and a growing threat of impeachment, President Park Geun-Hye has said she is willing to resign before her term ends in February 2018.Eunjung Lim, Lecturer, Johns Hopkins UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/687222016-11-18T07:24:10Z2016-11-18T07:24:10ZWhat you should know about South Korea’s political scandal: the same old story – but with a twist?<p>The <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/south-korean-president-scandal-explained-5-facts-about-controversy-surrounding-park-2441604">allegations involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye</a> and her friend of 40 years, Choi Soon-Sil, has all the hallmarks of an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/nov/02/south-korea-explainer-park-guen-hye-six-key-points-scandal-choi-soon-sil">old-fashioned scandal</a> in the country. But things are nonetheless <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/south-korea-protests-park-geun-hye-exit_us_582b3b57e4b060adb57063e1">not looking good</a> for the president.</p>
<p>The plotline is mundane: <a href="http://www.wsj.com/video/south-korean-presidents-influence-scandal-explained/672143F7-D107-4FCA-9708-3C702BB3C041.html">Choi allegedly extorted US$69 million</a> from South Korean conglomerates (known as <em>chaebol</em>), including Samsung, Hyundai, LG, Lotte, and others, for personal use – in the form of donations to two foundations she controlled.</p>
<p>If this is true, it has certainly happened before. The practice of <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/tmsd/2010/00000009/00000002/art00001">extracting slush funds from <em>chaebol</em></a> is called rent-sharing.</p>
<p>In the past, it has involved companies paying large amounts of money to the president to obtain monopoly rights, gain access to government capital, garner patents, avoid sanctions or punishments, and secure tax reductions. But since thoses bribes were often too big for financially troubled <em>chaebol</em>, they found it necessary to increase their size to multiply their earning capacity. One way to enhance revenue was to invest <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Modern-Korean-History/Seth/p/book/9780415739313">heavily in new technologies while suppressing unions</a> and their demands for higher wages.</p>
<p>Ultimately, both the <em>chaebol</em> and the corrupt past governments were delighted with the result of rent-sharing. Gross domestic product rapidly increased due to massive exports of high-tech goods to foreign countries at cheap prices. And <a href="http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB22310104?l=en">rent-sharing became a driver of economic growth</a>. </p>
<h2>A long tradition</h2>
<p>Rent-sharing was <a href="http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB22310104?l=en">first devised</a> during the reign of Park Chung-hee (1961-1979), the current president’s late father. During his military dictatorship, no one could openly say anything about his friendship with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/world/asia/south-koreans-ashamed-over-les-secretive-adviser.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FPark%20Geun-hye&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection">Choi Soon-Sil’s father, Choi Tae-Min</a>, the founder of an obscure sect called the Church of Eternal Life, and later, Crusaders to Save the Nation. </p>
<p>Reverend Choi allegedly had <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/south-koreas-president-in-crisis-over-corruption-scandals/5554630">undue influence over the dictator</a>. And when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/world/asia/south-korea-choi-soon-sil.html">Park Chung-Hee was assassinated</a> by the chief of the Korea Central Intelligence Agency in 1979, <a href="https://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/KDP_Report_(final)-1.pdf">pro-democracy movements led by student activists</a> sprouted up all over the country, calling for the imprisonment of all corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, and <em>chaebol</em> owners.</p>
<p>Democratisation finally happened in 1987, after a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/22/world/south-korea-indicts-2-former-presidents-in-staging-of-1979-coup.html">second military coup in 1979</a> and the <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/17/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/dying-democracy-1980-gwangju-uprising-transformed-south-korea/#.WCwi4qJ94dU">massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators</a> in the southern city of Kwangju in 1980. Despite full democratic reforms that allowed the election of civilian leaders to the presidential palace, the Blue House, civilian presidents continued to imitate the late dictator Park’s rent-sharing practices.</p>
<p>President Roh Tae Woo (1988-1992) was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-17/news/mn-4124_1_roh-tae-woo">indicted and found guilty</a> of raising <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/17/world/ex-president-of-south-korea-is-arrested-and-apologizes-in-a-hugebribery-scandal.html">US$650 million from <em>chaebol</em> owners</a>. </p>
<p>Nobel Peace Prize-winning president Kim Dae-Jung (1998-2002) ended up having to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1970051.stm">leave the party he founded</a> after his <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2590389.stm">three sons and close aides were found guilty of collecting money</a> from <em>chaebol</em>. The case of president Roh Moo-hyun (2003-2008) was the most tragic of all – he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/24/south-korea-former-president-suicide">committed suicide while facing allegations</a> of taking US$6 million in bribes.</p>
<h2>Egregious allegations</h2>
<p>Despite its commonplace theme, the Park Geun-hye allegations seem particularly egregious to many South Koreans because it reminds them of her father’s – and Choi’s father’s – alleged misdeeds. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/world/asia/south-koreans-ashamed-over-les-secretive-adviser.html">They are embarrassed about this seemingly unending saga</a> consuming the unlikely figure of President Park, whose father is thought to have been assassinated for corruption that involved Choi’s father. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3930384/One-million-protesters-streets-call-South-Korean-president-stand-scandal-involving-shadowy-female-aide-links-shamanistic-cult.html">Park is refusing to step down</a> from the presidency despite <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201611120038.html">700,000 demonstrators demanding she do so</a> on November 12. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/01/choi-soon-sil-arrested-made-in-south-korean-presidential-cronyism-scandal">Choi Soon-Sil has been arrested</a> as have <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-06/park-s-former-aides-arrested-as-protesters-demand-resignation">two of Park’s former aides</a>. And, in <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37966494">a first for South Korean political history</a>, a sitting president is likely to be interrogated by prosecutors. But Park is <a href="http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1018254.shtml">doing all she can</a> to avoid this.</p>
<p>Park is accused of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/world/asia/south-koreans-ashamed-over-les-secretive-adviser.html">organising the Blue House for Choi’s rent-sharing practices</a>. Choi, who didn’t have any public position in the government, is alleged to have been given presidential power, even as Park <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/world/asia/south-koreans-ashamed-over-les-secretive-adviser.html?_r=0">severed ties with her own brother and sister</a>. What’s more, the alleged bribes collected would not have directly benefited Park; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/nov/02/south-korea-explainer-park-guen-hye-six-key-points-scandal-choi-soon-sil">but it would have benefited Choi</a> and her allies.</p>
<p>Park has been described as Choi’s “<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/31/asia/south-korea-reshuffle/">puppet</a>”, and protesters keep portraying her as such.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">South Korean protestors depict President Park Guen-Hye as her friend Choi Soon-Sil’s puppet.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Running out of time</h2>
<p>In September, the <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/09/28/asia-pacific/crime-legal-asia-pacific/tough-anti-corruption-law-takes-effect-south-korea/#.WCwvc6J94dU">South Korean legislature implemented an anti-graft law</a> (also known as the Kim Young-Ran law after the judge who drafted it) aiming to stop gift-giving in exchange for public or private preferences. It’s now discussing a new law that would <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20161107000862">allow the government to confiscate all illicit wealth</a> accrued by rent-sharing. </p>
<p>It’s unclear whether President Park Geun-hye will step down soon, if at all (her <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/world/asia/south-korea-constitution-park-geun-hye.html">one five-year term expires in February 2018</a>). Angry voters are promising to hold more rallies. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ecns.cn/2016/11-16/234144.shtml">Opposition and some former ruling party members are joining together</a> to start an official impeachment process in the National Assembly. And <a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/11/07/64/0200000000AEN20161107002800315F.html">leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party</a>, who refused to resign have now been completely deserted by party members openly siding with the opposition in calling for impeachment. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the prosecutor’s office has summoned <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/11/116_218172.html">key Blue House staff</a>, <em>chaebol</em> <a href="http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2016/11/602_218076.html">owners who are suspected of having giving funds</a> to Choi Soon-Sil and her friends, and <a href="http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3026151&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1">the president herself</a>. </p>
<p>Park’s room for manoeuvre is quickly vanishing, although she’s trying hard to find a way to save face by not resigning. But current political leaders are unanimous that the president should be <a href="http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/770227.html">impeached if she doesn’t voluntarily step down</a>. </p>
<p>Park’s time is running out. She might soon have to offer her third apology to the nation, this time with her final decision.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ingyu Oh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Korean President Park Geun-Hye may be about to become the first national leader to be questioned by prosecutors while still in office.Ingyu Oh, Professor of Sociology, Korea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/680042016-11-15T12:21:41Z2016-11-15T12:21:41ZSouth Korea’s president is facing an uncertain future of protest and scrutiny<p>Political upheaval, mass protest, and an unpopular president facing a criminal investigation. No, not the US after the election of Donald Trump – but the very messy current situation in the public life of South Korea.</p>
<p>The government there has been led by President <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Park-Geun-Hye">Park Geun-hye</a> for the past four years. A leading member of the conservative Saenuri party, she also happens to be the daughter of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Park-Chung-Hee">Park Chung-hee</a>, the head of the country’s Cold War military dictatorship. </p>
<p>In stark contrast to her father, Park is considered a rather demure figure, reliant on her aides to formulate and implement policy. But her government was suddenly <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37966494">thrown into a full-blown crisis</a> that has brought about a total paralysis of her presidency. </p>
<p>In October 2016 files on a discarded laptop revealed that a friend of the president (who held no public office) had been given access to confidential policy documents and briefings, provided political advice, and edited her speeches. The friend and confidante in question was <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/choi-soon-sil-woman-heart-080713243.html">Choi Soon-sil</a>, who also happens to be the daughter of another famous South Korean man – cult leader <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37820112">Choi Tae-min</a>, founder of the Church of Eternal Life. </p>
<p>The revelation generated a huge wave of public revulsion against the 64-year-old president. Her public approval rating plummeted, there have been <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/protesters-demand-south-korean-president-park-geun-hye-resign-10654681">public demonstrations</a> – one million people gathered on the streets of Seoul to demand her resignation – and she is facing a criminal investigation, all because of the company she keeps.</p>
<p>The fathers of both women were also closely linked. Choi Tae-min or “Pastor” Choi was known to have been influential with former president, Park Chung-hee. The latter’s assassin <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kim-Jae-Kyu">even claimed</a> that Choi’s influence was one of the reasons he killed him. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145784/original/image-20161114-5108-1ghssqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145784/original/image-20161114-5108-1ghssqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145784/original/image-20161114-5108-1ghssqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145784/original/image-20161114-5108-1ghssqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145784/original/image-20161114-5108-1ghssqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1174&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145784/original/image-20161114-5108-1ghssqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1174&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145784/original/image-20161114-5108-1ghssqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1174&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former president Park Chung-hee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As long time family friends, the current president developed a close relationship with Choi and his daughter. The suspicion held by many South Koreans after the laptop revelations is that their president was manipulated by Choi Soon-sil and that the cult had acquired control over their country. </p>
<p>The other suspicion is that Choi Soon-sil, 60, abused her relationship with President Park for personal gain. Choi’s daughter appears to have received favourable treatment to gain admission to the <a href="http://www.topuniversities.com/universities/ewha-womans-university/undergrad">Ewha Women’s University</a> despite insufficient grades. The president of the university has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/31/south-korean-scandal-choi-soon-sil-pleads-for-forgiveness">since resigned</a>.</p>
<p>More importantly, it is <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-korea-president-park-geun-hye-friend-choi-soon-sil-arrested-scandal/">alleged in the media</a> that she used her links to President Park to obtain US$70m in donations from Korean industrial conglomerates for her two foundations, promoting Korean culture and sports. </p>
<p>It <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/south-korea-president-park-friend-choi-detained-161101043358269.html">has also been suggested</a> that substantial amounts went into Choi’s personal accounts and that her staff have been directly involved in the review of presidential policy documents.</p>
<p>The political shock generated by this affair has reverberated around the establishment. The lawmakers of the ruling party have been left reeling while the opposition continue to call for the resignation of the president. </p>
<p>What is particularly remarkable is the response of the South Korean people. Until this point Park had been viewed as a rather uninspiring but unusually clean politician. The scandal has shaken the nation to its core and has given rise to a complete collapse in trust for the highest political office. </p>
<p>President Park made a brief and rather <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-04/park-says-hard-to-forgive-myself-for-political-scandal/7996376">contrite apology</a> as the political storm clouds were gathering. And in order to stem the rising tide of demands for her resignation, she has replaced key government officials including the prime minister. </p>
<p>But so far there is no sign that these measures are sufficient to mitigate the scandal and the political establishment is openly unwilling to accept the government’s authority. This is creating a state of political paralysis without any obvious route of escape. </p>
<h2>Seoul searching</h2>
<p>It is possible that the National Assembly will vote to impeach President Park, but there is no clearly established mechanism to put in place an interim president until the elections in 2017. There is a serious risk that the South Korean government will remain dysfunctional until then. </p>
<p>For the Republic of Korea this would be extremely damaging given the constant provocations from North Korea and the challenges facing the South Korean economy in the wake of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/something-good-could-actually-come-from-samsungs-battery-disaster-67272">woes of Samsung</a>. </p>
<p>Even since the transition to democracy, every South Korean president has left office leaving scandals in their wake. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kim-Dae-Jung">Kim Dae-jung</a> was damaged in 2003 by the revelation that a very large sum of money was paid to North Korea in order to secure an historic summit, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roh-Tae-Woo">Roh Tae-woo</a> went to prison for corruption in 1996, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roh-Moo-Hyun">Roh Moo-hyun</a> killed himself in 2009 in order to escape an investigation of his family for receiving substantial illicit donations. </p>
<p>Park, however, is the first to face a major scandal while still in office.</p>
<p>For the Saenuri party, which considers itself the natural party of government in the Republic of Korea, this situation is a catastrophe. It has no plausible candidate for the forthcoming president elections and its only salvation might be if <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/what-has-ban-ki-moon-done-for-the-world/">outgoing UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon</a> were to run as a Saenuri candidate. </p>
<p>The fact that he has been absent from South Korean politics for so long and has such a high international reputation may enable him to garner support in the hope that he will somehow redeem the institution of the presidency. But for the foreseeable future there is little escape from the existential crisis that the South Korean political system has suddenly fallen into.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christoph Bluth received funding from Korea Foundation to study South Korea's National Security Policy. Similar funding was received from the Academy of Korean Studies. This funding was for impartial research, not linked to or supporting any political organisation.</span></em></p>The president of South Korea has been accused of choosing her friends poorly.Christoph Bluth, Professor of International Relations and Security, University of BradfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.