While I was having dinner, Korean Assembly controlled by the corrupted opposition parties impeached President Roh. This CNN article depicts the cause of his impeachment as if he has done something wrong. He hasn't. Corruption scandal mentioned in the article pales in comparison to the corruption scandals of the opposition parties.
By how much? At one point, President Roh said he would resign if the total amount of illegal political funds he used in the last President Election was more than 1/10 of the opposition party's. Controversial figure released last week was a little over 1/7th. Yes, that is still a lot, but less is less and far better direction than more.
Supposed violation of the election law also mentioned in the article is no more than brief informal comment during a TV interview in which he mentioned that he would do everything allowed by law to help the budding pro-government party which has only a handful of seats in the Assembly. He wasn't advocating anything illegal. His plan to join the pro-government party was known by all before so which party he supported was never in doubt. So this impeachment amounts to a coup de'tat by corrupt politicians.
President Roh's executive power is now suspended until the Korean Supreme Court decides whether the Assembly vote was legal or not. Emotion is rising high in Korea at this moment. In the last 48 hours, a former President of Dawoo jumped into Han river because President Roh implicated him in a bribery attempt and a citizen put himself on fire to protest the impeachment vote.
I wouldn't be surprised if million of Koreans showed up in front of the Assembly tommorrow calling for the blood of those voted to impeach the President. Even more maddening is that most of those assemblymen were expected to be voted out of their seats within a few weeks. My own blood is boiling at the moment. I am tempted to fly over there and unleash my own cans of whupass on the crazy politicians.
Update 1:
All of the Korean news sites including OhmyNews and Korean Yahoo News are swamped at the moment. Give it a few hours.
Update 2:
All assemblymen who are members of the pro-government party, Uri-dang, resigned to protest the impeachment vote. President Roh continued his tour of a factory despite hearing of his impeachment. He said he expects the Supreme Court to put things right. When someone asked him how he could be smiling at a time like this, he said he can smile because he has a dream of a better Korea. He also said that pain and suffering is necessary for rebirth.
Update 3:
A man drove through a gate leading to the Assembly building and, when stopped by security, set the car on fire. Another man tried to set himself on fire on the roof of a police station in Choongbook, a state south of Seoul. Koreans are, if anything, very passionate people. I know I wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight because I am too angry. While I am not a citizen of Korea anymore, I still consider myself a Korean and all this makes me as mad as I was on 9/11.
Update 4:
Thanks to Dave for the link. Here are some pictures of young Koreans protesting the impeachment in a candle march.
Update 5:
Some pictures from OhmyNews:
The guy in the back center is one of the two leaders who
orchestrated the impeachment. His nick name is Choi-tler as in Hitler.
They forcefully removed all the pro-Roh assemblymen
and formed a wall to keep them out while voting was taking place.
Here is the Speaker of the House declaring successful passage of
the impeachment vote. A 'Shoe of Justice' is what he got in return.
Dorks with their arms up are all yelling 'It's My Size!'
A citizen got so mad he attempted to drive into
the Assembly building. Failing that, he torched his car.
Update 6:
Here is an OhmyNews article in English and another picture from OhmyNews.
The People's Candle March
Update 7:
Almost 75 percent of S. Koreans Oppose Roh's Impeachment - Yonhap News
7 Out of 10 Oppose Impeachment - Korea Times
In addition, polls taken by three major TV networks in Korea showed similar results. Looks like Uri Party will win the lionshare of the National Assemly seats in the upcoming election. I had no idea the opposition parties could be this stupid.
Update 8:
People are gathering for massive candle vigils in Seoul (English version) . Below is picture from Jong-ro district at the heart of Old Seoul on the evening of March 13th. Such events became popular recently to give visible mass to the voice of the people. Pretty effective, I think because eventually the choice comes down to surrendering or doing stupid things that could turn the crowd violent.
Candle vigils are planned to be held every night
until at least the election on April 15th.
It's also a family event. Cool.
Pictures from other Korean cities:
Photos of foreigners and canines protesting as well.
Don Park's Weekly Habit 