The Marmot’s Hole

More impeachment crap:

• Conspiracy!!!! That’s what Min Byung-du, the de facto Uri Party chief election campaigner, is claiming (English version here). According to the Korea Times:

  “(Millennium Democratic Party) chairman Chough Soon-hyung said there is no other way but to delay the election,” Min Byung-du, the de facto ruling camp’s chief election campaigner, told reporters.

  Chough, on the other hand, said that claims he suggested delaying the general election is all bull-cocky:

  “It’s a strategy to slander me,” Chough said. “I had clearly promised (right after the impeachment motion was passed) that the election will be held with no change in schedule. How can I talk about delaying it only a day later?”

  MDP vice-spokesman Jang Jeon-hyeong wondered if it’s not the Uri Party who’s talking about delaying the general election in a bid to prolong political confusion to their own mischievous ends. They also accuse the Uri Party of using the “matador technique” — basically, spreading disinformation in an attempt to wear the opponent out and cause internal dissension. Not nice, but then again, who knows what the hell to believe any more.

• Already, acting President 2ID Goh’s powers are being questioned:
  

  Acting President Goh Kun on Tuesday faced a challenge by Chong Wa Dae and the Justice Ministry regarding the scope of his executive power.

  “Prime Minister Goh is not authorized to fire or appoint a minister,” a senior Chong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity. “I don’t think that it is desirable for the acting president to conduct a major reshuffle of state corporations.”

  This controversy over the scope of the acting president’s authority is expected to continue as the passage by the National Assembly of an impeachment motion against President Roh Moo-hyun is without precedent.

  This also poses a great dilemma for the government, which has on its immediate docket a reshuffle of senior prosecutors and heads of state corporations as well as legal challenges on the National Assembly’s decision to reduce the presidential power to grant amnesties.

  The comments that seemed to piss the opposition off the most, however, came from Cheong Wa Dae spokeswomen Justice Minister Kang Geum-shil (see Oranckay’s post about her ex-husband):

  “I don’t think that it is not within Prime Minister Goh’s authority to make a reshuffle of Cabinet ministers or other important appointments,” said Kang, who is regarded as a key ally of the impeached president. “It is the view of a majority that the prime minister acts on the behalf of the president so his authority should be limited to the routine day-to-day management of state affairs.”

  I might have to agree with Kang, though — I’m not sure if I want an interim president making major personnel decisions, especially with the opposition sounding like its trying to run some sort of post-revolution government of national salvation.

• The Chosun Ilbo, always quick to point out the faults of the pro-Roh crowd, ran an article on the cyber-war taking place over the impeachment issue. They ran a Korean-language piece, however, that was a little more disturbing — apparently, some members of Nosamo, Roh’s booster club, have been targeting MDP lawmaker Chu Mi-ae with chants of, well, for lack of a better translation, “Fucking Bitch.” I don’t mean to say that this didn’t happen, but apparently, it only happened on March 11, when Chu reversed course and announced she would vote for the impeachment. Still, for a bunch of reformers, that ain’t cool.