OhMyNews reports that a number of the younger GNP members have called for the party to withdraw the impeachment of President Roh, arguing basically that, well, the people don’t want it, so why don’t we just drop it. They’re currently camped out in a tent along the Han River, busy making countermeasures. Party head Choe Byeong-nyeol’s response was immediate. He told the young rebels that if they don’t like the party’s principles (I use the term loosely here), then get the hell out.
Personally, it seems like posturing ahead of the GNP election to select a new party head, and even if it is not, I’m not impressed; these guys did, after all, vote for the impeachment, and Choetler makes one of his rare points — even if they did recall the impeachment, it wouldn’t help the party any. Not now, anyhow.
Oh, there is an English version of this story at the Korea Times.
5 Comments
I agree with the Marmot.
We are witness to an astonishing feat of political jiujitsu (or taekwondo, maybe — I don’t know the doctrines of martial arts). Roh *is* an incompetent clown and he *was* enormously disappointing and unpopular prior to the impeachment vote. But the GNP/MDP crooks originally were and now, after the impeachment vote, *are* more unpopular than he. Roh correctly noted that when the focus is on his own shitty, haphazard performance and crooked assemblage of cronies, he looks bad. The voters were forgetting about how awful the GNP/MDP really are. Now, thanks to the erstwhile ruling clan lunging at the flimsiest legal pretext to remove him, Roh gets to turn the National Assembly vote from a referendum on him to a referendum on *them*.
In an absolute sense, Roh is a total failure. But by making it a relative judgment, he knows that he looks good by comparison.
are the people really against it or is it a vocal minority? Noh is an incompetent asshole (my wife’s words) and he is killing the korean economy. why would they not want him gone?
OK, here’s the thing — Roh was not popular before the impeachment, and many (if not most) people seem to think he’s incompetent. Yet he was elected, and when you look at the criminals who impeached him, all you can do is shake your head and say, “WTF”? It strikes too many people as a cheap way for two embattled political parties (the GNP and MDP) to help themselves in the general election (if not an outright attempt at a parliamentary coup), and that seems to have backfired. It’s a big jump from going “the guy’s a fool” to “he’s a jerk who should be impeached.” You need to actually do something massively illegal to make that jump, and Roh simply hasn’t yet.
BTW, there were small pro-impeachment demonstrations today in the Gwanghwamun area. Apparently North Korean human rights activist Norbert Vollertsen was there, which was a huge mistake on his part, if I may say so. Supporting human rights in North Korea is one thing; supporting corrupt politicians with checkered pasts trying to impeach an elected leader without just cause is quite another. If I see him again in the Chosun Ilbo’s coffee lounge, I’m going to make it a point to tell him that, too.
Noh could have avoided the impeachment by apologizing for the admittedly small mistakes he made. instead he chose to rant about his enemies and caused a guy to jump off a bridge. i have no sympathy for Noh. he deserved what he got.
Withdrawing the impeachment would be as incredibly stupid as many other things the Korean government and parties do. It would push the rule of law in Korea back even further….