Roh has just been impeached by a vote of 193-2. Vote was announced at 11:55 a.m. Friday. Voting began at 11:21.
Much, MUCH more on this later.
UPDATE: This is absolute bullshit, not to mention an extremely busy news day at the Chosun. OK, Roh’ll probably be cleared by the Constitutional Court, but why put the nation through this if you can’t get the impeachment to stick? This is disgusting, and as bad as Roh’s been, nobody should be celebrating this occasion.
One can only hope the Constitutional Court doesn’t take its full six months to get this mess cleared up.
Oh, the CNN piece on today’s events is here, and the WaPo piece is here.
UPDATE II: Oranckay goes off on the impeachment in his usual well-informed way:
Next question becomes how at such a time of great national distress and instability could the country possibly endure an Assembly election? Shouldn’t the save-the-fatherland conservatives see to it that it is canceled in the interest of “stability” and “economic growth” and “national defense,” just like they said whenever they used tanks to do the same thing? (Remember that the GNP is the direct patrilineal descendent of the Democratic Justice Party (Min jeong dang) of Chun Doo Hwan, several sneaky transformations in the past.)
It all makes you wonder.
Scary.
UPDATE III: This is not the way to treat an SUV.
On a more serious note, it would seem Uri Party party lawmakers will apparently resign en masse, and party head Jeong Dong-yeong is calling the impeachment vote a “coup d’etat using the mask of law.” The “3.12 Parliamentary Coup” is something I’m seeing a lot, too. For some brief party responses to today’s events, check out this piece (in Korean).
UPDATE IV: Apparently, protests are expected in front of the Chosun Ilbo building — the Oranckay could probably tell you why that is. Anyway, they just announced hightened security at the building. Fun, and I get stuck with the fuckin’ editorial today.
44 Comments
Hey Marmot,
President Roh, isn’t “officially” impeached yet. The Constitutional Court still has to review the vote to determine its constitutionality. I’m not sure if the Court will actually deem the whole process constitutional, considering it sets terrible precedent.
Whatever happens, I’m positive Roh is surrounded by incompetent advisors. Roh, his cabinet, and the rest of his staff have demonstrated an incredible amount of political ineptness.
I just saw it on the TV moments ago (yobo translated)!
Amazing! Thank GOD! I cheered when I heard, my mother-in-law and wife laughed.
I’m sure I’ll blog something on this later, sadly, whichever service provider we have here at mother-in-law’s doesn’t connect to tblog. *sigh*.
Keep up the good work Marmot!
While I hate Comrade Noh, I think this is pretty f*cked up. The charges seem flimsy at best and are only going to cause a sympathy vote for the OOP in April.
I had written a little longer and better comment that was eaten by the system. Here is the less eloquent version.
With the state of the Korean political system and what the heating up US election cycle is producing, I’m going back and sticking with comic books from now on.
The Noh presidency period has gone much beyond my worst case guess about what this important post-generals, post-3 Kims period in Korean government would produce.
An impeachment is better than a coup, but it doesn’t seem like it is going to encourage the rule of law much at all. Early in Roh’s presidency, I had hoped the Korean voters would use this coming election to send a message to the government and parties but then Noh started going extra-constitutional on us and saying he wanted a vote of confidence and was more than willing to step down —- and then more recently the opposition parties and the ruling party just went into chaos…….There is not hope in this coming election.
One could quip that the days of the Noh administration was equivalent to comic books and that by going to the funny pages after Noh’s pending impeachment cannot really change tenor of ones political perspective.
Seems that sanity may return to Korea. Comrade Roh has been seen for what he is….The Dear Leader’s Agent.
What an embarrassment for Korea. What a coup by the wrinkly old money-soaked scum that have been so threatened by emerging democracy in this country.
Noh has failed pathetically as president, in perhaps every important measure we could apply, but a very significant portion of that failure can be laid at the feet of the infantile politicking of the chaebol rent-boys who have run the show for decades, and who apparently continue to do so.
Things are going to get very interesting from here on in. Watching the Korean news at lunch, there was a great deal of man-on-the-street support for Noh, and little but contempt for the political weasels that engineered this (disregarding, of course, in that sentimentalist Korean way, what an inept president Noh has shown himself to be).
How disappointing.
The WaPo says it well :
“The onetime human rights attorney’s campaign to empower the poor has led to charges that Roh launched class warfare against the rich through tax measures and government policy. The impeachment had more to do with those societal divisions — and political angling ahead of key April 15 legislative elections — than with the actual charges, analysts said.
[...]
Political experts say the Grand National Party, the largest opposition force in control of the largest block of seats in the National Assembly, gambled that the impeachment, even if not upheld, would at least tarnish Roh and his allies ahead of the elections. “
Damn, I just hate it when I agree with stavrosthewonderchicken…
*sigh*
korean politics is literally the most corrupt sh**hole in the world.. btw, the FUNNIEST thing i’ve EVER seen in my life was on korean news a few weeks ago.. these politicians were arguing (nothing new) then they got into a wrestling match and one guy does a PERFECT judo toss (the one where you fall on your back and toss your enemy over.. YOU KNOW?? ryu’s roundhouse throw??? sheesh!!) and then tries a hip toss on another guy.. LMAO. anyway.. that pretty much sums up korean politics..
Say it ain’t so ketchup beans. Show me the receipts. I want to see the receipts.
its true, hanin.. unfortunately i dont have tivo or video capture hardware to share this with the internet masses.. it would’ve been the most downloaded movie file of the decade..
ive learned TWO things from watching that.. the first is.. do NOT mess with korean politicians.. they’ll throw you to the ground then choke you the f#@$ out.. the second thing is.. DO NOT FU&#$IG MESS WITH KROEAN POLITICAINS!!!
My girlfriend got pissed at me for laughing at the antics of the morons in the National Assembly. I’m a foreigner, she said, so I can laugh at those sorts of things. But she’s Korean, and she thinks it refelcts very, very badly on her country (which it does, of course).
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… the biggest barrier in Korea’s quest for a “good image” is the behavior of Korean people themselves. It seems like it’s always gonna be 1 step forward, two steps back for Korea.
Brian
There was nothing wrong with the impeachment. The National Assembly had the legal right to do that, even if it were for political reasons, but there was definitely something wrong with the way Roh’s supporters tried to stop the impeachment. Korea’s lawmakers looked like children fighting on a playground. Imagine fighting over a chair or a microphone. Even the female politicians had to show that they could be just as childish as their male counterparts.
Imagine if Roh’s supporters had just followed procedures, lost the vote, and expressed their disappointment through the media. The result would have been the same, but, at least, they would have looked mature and dignified instead of looking like a bunch of rabid dogs fighting over a bone.
The next time I am watching the news and hear a US politician kiss Korean butt by referring to Korea as a mature democracy, I think I will take a clue from what I saw today and throw my shoe at the TV.
Respectfully, I disagree Marmot.
I will celebrate. I detest Roh.
Roh COULD be cleared. But so what? If he broke the law, he should be impeached. The vote was made and the elected reps have spoken. Break the law… get impeached. Period.
It doesn’t matter what kind of chaos this may or may not cause. Personally, I think Korea is better off with the chaos created without Roh then chaos created with Roh.
I saw you in the paper today. Did you used to live in Ulsan? You look familiar.
well, Chirac, Schroeder, and Noh all got elected on a wave of anti-americanism and look what their respective countries got in return. i have no sympathy for any of these countries.
Quite the erudite level of discourse in here, Marmot. [/sarcasm]
I mean, I know the old Daehan Minguk is just chockers with mensa-level waeguk-in ready and willing to offer their bogglingly insightful analysis of current events, so I’m surprised you don’t attract a better class of commenter! [/comedy]
Is this the way it usually is? I’ve really only just started reading all the Korean blogs that have sprung up in the wake of SS Wonderchicken.[/honest question]
leave it stavrosthecanadianamericahatingwonderchicken to make this about those nasty conservatives keeping a liberal brother down. that’s politics and what makes an effective president is having the ability to reach out and get both parties to cooperate. Noh hasn’t cared much for cooperation and he has paid the price.
Shawn — I have no idea who that person is. All I know is, it ain’t me. Stupid fucks at the Herald — screwed up the caption. If he ain’t wearing a hanbok, he ain’t the Marmot.
Steve — Is this the way it usually is? Well, depends on the post subject.
Yeah. When a long string of posts comes, I always can’t wait for someone to tell us all how ignorant and unimportant we are. [/sarcasam]
It’s nice to hear the opinion of the non-elite- enlightened-elite. [/lie]
The guy in the picture is Jeff from the Jeff in Korea blog.
Brian
Gee, are things really this exciting in Korea? At first I thought I’d stumbled upon a Korean discussion of the World Wrestling Federation. They do have a female Korean wrestler from Canada now.
I can only wish that Maxine Waters gets Piledriven on the House floor.
Now now, Dan, we don’t want to return to the days of Charles Sumner. No matter how silly Congress is, at least they leave the worst parts of their behavior at the door.
Pile drive Maxine Waters?
Only if I get to hit her with an elbow drop from the top of the podium while she’s down.
I typed up a storm on this impeachment stuff already. The only thing I have to add is that the GNP is toast unless Roh’s allies do something stupid like launch disruptive and/or violent protests. Every firebomb thrown would be another vote for the GNP in next month’s elections.
stavrosthecanadianamericahatingwonderchicken says : blow me, you big dumb-dumb! Or alternately : go rent yourself a brain, cheesechaser! You know, whichever one works for you.
come on stav.. can’t you take a joke from your old friend “pukester”. lighten up francis.
btw, i know you feel empowered to be biased on your own page but when you venture out into the real ether world you should be a little more concerned about your credibility. that’s assuming, of course, that you want to be taken seriously in a discussion. instead of silly attacks, why don’t you simply support your claim that those nasty conservatives are to blame for everything and let the people decide who needs a brain and who is the dumb dumb.
great. everybody knows each other. hmmmm……
where can I find this picture of Jeff in Korea on the Korean paper? is it on the web?
It’s incredible how this issue has simply exploded. there wasn’t anything to post about Korean politics lately and BAM! Here this happens…
Andy,
I’d hold her down for you, but if you try the elbow drop on her mouth, half your torso may disappear before you hit teeth or tonsils.
I still hate her for saying the LA Korean community deserved to be burned out during the riots. Also, Mad Maxine was so put out that Koreans expected Americans to work hard and long hours like they do.
I understand there’s a group of Korean ex-Pats in Appleton, WI. I’ll have to find them to see if they have better community acceptance than they get in LA.
Wow, as stavros said, there’s quite an intellectually stimulating and insightful discussion going on here. I would like to add my two cents, but I don’t even know where to begin. Let me just suggest the following first three steps for those who want to make a judgement on this impeachment issue, although I think the whole point of this was already made clear by Marmot’s previous post:
1. Learn Korean.
2. Read Article 65(1) of the Korean constitution regarding grounds for impeachment.
3. Read the memo sent to Roh by the National Election Commission.
Here, I’ll even quote them for your convenience:
Article 65(1):
?흸??????쨔.??짯??쨈?쨈????.??짯??쨈?흹????.???????째??쨋???? ???.??흸?짼?????흸???졙?????흸??쨈???짼??쨈???짚????????짹째?쨈?????흹??????흸 ?흹????.?째???? ??????.?째?????흹???? ?쨍째?????짼??????쨈 ?????흹 ?쨀???쨈?????쨈 ?쨌쨍 ?짠???쨈?짠??????? ?????쨈??흹 ??흸?짼???쨈??? ?짼??????? ?흹??째째??흹 ??흸?????????짯??흸????????????? ??졙?쨋???쩌 ????짼째??? ??? ?????짚.
NEC Memo:
2004??? 2????4??쩌 ??흹??짯?째???졖?쨍째?????쨈??쩍?쨈??짼짯, ?흸??????쨔 ?쨌짢??? 1??쩌??? ??쨔?쨀???흸?짼??????흹??? ?째흹??쨍?쨀쩌 ?쨈???짢?????? ????짹째?짼? ?흹??째? ??┑?????쨈 ??쩌?쨀? ???????????짚. ??째??? ?흹??????흸????3??????쩌 ????짼쨈??흸????????흹 ??┑??? ??흹 ?째?? ?쨍째?????흸?짼??????흹??? ?흸??????쨔?????? ?째흹??쨍??쨈 ??????????짹째??쨈????쨍??짠??쨌흹?????? ?흹??째? ??흹??짚?쨀? ?쨀쩌 ????????????짚?쨀? ?흸???짢??????????????짚.
?쨌쨍?????? ?흸??????쨔????????흹????????짹째?????흹??? ?짚???쩍?????쨈??쩌 ?째??짠??????쨀???쨈?????쨈??흹????징흹 ????흹쩌?징흹 ????짹째?????흹??? ?짚???쩍??? ?????쨈??쩌 ?짠??쩌흹??쩌??흹?쨍째??쩌 ?째?????????짚.
I guess it’s standard practice for you Republicans to cite CNN and WaPo. The WaPo says:
“This was considered by the National Electoral Commission to be a minor infraction of electoral laws; …”
However, the NEC memo doesn’t even seem to be saying that, does it?
good stuff woojay,
I’ve been searching for the lines at the NEC site but for my dinky computer speed reasons and my own confusion could not find the pertinent statements. So it’s a word of caution and nothing more; which means the whole ordeal of this Friday morning past is extremely embarassing. But it is really the “articulated reasoning” behind the 193 v. 2 vote that is more questionable. There seems have been none. Was the vote immediate after the forced escort or was there even a minimal form of debate?
You seem to really have something against all things Korean. I wonder why you CHOSE to stay there for the past 8 years or so. I mean, can’t you find a decent job back home? Don’t you have people who love you back home?
Pretty much forced, I think. Try this:
http://www.chosun.com/w21data/.....30015.html
Fuckers.
Of course…another anaymous shot…
Dan: I think the Korean community is getting far more respect in LA now than before. Or at least in 92. Heck, here in the San Fernando valley we suddenly have Korean businesses popping up left and right…
This has nothing to do with the impeachment, but Christopher might be interested in a story over at http://kimcheegi.blogs.com/budaechigae/ about Ahn Chang-ho, who started a K-town in Riverside in 1904, a year after Koreans first arrived in the US (in Hawaii). Interesting stuff.
You seem to really have something against all things Korean.
Stupid assclown.
Woojay — I hope you don’t mind, but I linked to your piece on the impeachment in my post above. It was, simply put, beautiful. For the benifit of English-speakers, I’d love to see that thing translated — there seems to be too much misinformation in the English language press about this whole mess. I’d do it myself (beats translating Chosun Ilbo stuff), but I figure since it’s your stuff, I’d ask you first.
Oh, and BTW, we Republican types don’t usually make it a habit of citing CNN and the WaPo. Nobody takes CNN seriously, and we’re the ones, after all, who coined the term “Pravda on the Potomac” to refer to the later. For better or worse, however, they are some of the most widely read news sources in the English language, so they’re going to be linked regardless of political persuasion.
Dude, why do you keep mispelling “benefit”? It’s with an “e”, bro, an “e”!!
OK, I’ll see what I can do about translating.
Hi Woojay!
I?쨈m wondering, what you would think about MY spelling desaster? Desaster=disaster? Oh my goodness, I?쨈m going to buy the thickest English-German dictionary available in town, to compete here at this faculty, hahaha.
Woojay,
I’m still learning my way around the Korean blogs. I was wondering if you were referring to US Republicans or if there was a Korean Republican party. I can assure you, CNN is the LAST source of information people in my GOP circles cite. Also, we call it the Clinton News Network.
Christopher,
San Fernando valley, are you talking Glendale? I’m coming out for Easter to drop a car off for my daughter at USC. I could be in the mood for some bugogi by then, that is IF I get my Zankou chicken first.
Sugar Shin,
What’s with the Deutch-Englisch dictionary? I’m missing the background on your comment. Oh, don’t get me going with the German syntax and accent. It took me years to speak standard American English after growing up in a family that spoke Wisconsin Deutch.
Guten Tag, Herr Mehlhorn!
Woojay knows me and my backround a little. I?쨈m a Korean (kyopo)residing in Germany and because of my biography my German(Deutsch)is on par with the level of a native speaker. Ask Marmot, the owner of this place, I often misuse his comment section for a high number of “correction posts” to fix my numerous English grammar/ spelling mistakes.
I?쨈ve heard that many German immigrants settled in Winsconsin and that Chicago had/ has a huge German-descent community. A friend of mine had worked at a German-language newspaper in Chicago during his overseas university time. I have not the slightest clue, how “Wisconsin Deutch” sounds. Maybe comparable to the dialect of Lower Saxonia (northern Germany)? But I think, we?쨈re getting off-topic here…
Sugar Shin,
the Deutsch is dying in the family. Went to a Wilke family reunion, and all the German speakers were in their 70s. You hit the dialect on the head. The Wilke side of the family settled in the area Catherine the Great carved out of Poland for them. Grandpa’s family is from Prussia.
At one time I thought about visiting the old country with my family and seeing the reaction to my Daughter, Brenda (Sung Mee). I am finding more and more evidence to a large Korean colony in Germany.
How are the Korean-Germans taking the impeachment news?
Dan,
the older “Korean-Germans” are praying in the churches for the safety of the homeland. Younger atheist folks like me are pissed off about this tax-sponsored state-circus initiated by the GNP, MDP, ULD and the independent opportunists of parlament… my prediction is, that the Uri Party will harvest a remarkable victory in the 15th April national assembly election, if the public anger about the political uncertainty due to the impeachment foolishness lasts during the coming weeks.
The Korean colony in Germany is not that large, something about 35000-40000 residents, but I?쨈m not sure. The largest communities live in Berlin, D?쩌sseldorf and Frankfurt/Main. Come to romantic Germany, the biggest beer “Hof” of Europe. I should get money from the German tourist lobby.
Sugar Shin,
Ja, I’d love to come. Only thing is my Bier drinking days are over. I’m some German. I can’t drink bier and I don’t like sauerkraut or sauerbroten. Matches my Korean daughter who won’t eat Kimchi.
I do pray that the Korean do not learn about Bierstube Putches.
PING:
TITLE: Korea news
BLOG NAME: Silent Running
The incompetent twat the got elected on a wave of anti-Americanism in South Korea just got impeached. Who would have thought that such a one dimensional candidate would have turned out to be such an ineffective president? Recently, Noh distinguished…
PING:
TITLE: Roh Impeached!
BLOG NAME: Californian Sojourn
Check out the chaos here and here. I tell you that we are certainly looking at an interesting few years for the Korean peninsula here. I wonder what the Norks are currently thinking about the whole deal.
PING:
TITLE: Impeached!
BLOG NAME: Barry Talks!
The Marmot describes all the politics around the impeachment of South Korea’s President Noh.
PING:
TITLE: Eyes on Korea: 2004-03-16
BLOG NAME: Winds of Change.NET
NK Nukes; NK diplomacy; The reality of North Korea; More impeachment; South Korea roundup; US Forces Korea; Your moment of Zen from Big Hominid.