Word: roh
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...This imbroglio was a black eye not only for Roh but for South Korean democracy. Once known as a can-do Asian Tiger that had inspiringly shed authoritarian rule in the late 1980s, South Korea has now become the poster country for government dysfunction. Shortly before chairing his first Cabinet meeting Friday night, acting President Goh Kun, a respected career bureaucrat and former Seoul mayor, called the impeachment a "deplorable" incident, saying, "I cannot but feel sorry to the nation that the situation has reached the point it has." Goh called for calm, promising to maintain stability in government policy...
...would be easy to conclude that Roh's impeachment will kill off his presidency. But his reformist agenda and his direct approach to voters still carry wide popular appeal. Some observers say opposition lawmakers felt they had to impeach Roh to prevent Uri Party candidates from sweeping the upcoming election. "This was their final gamble," explains Cho Ki Suk, an expert on Korean politics at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. "What else could [opposition politicians] do?" Says Hahm Sung Deuk, professor of political economy at Korea University in Seoul: "The impeachment was a political game of chicken...
...Regardless of the election's outcome, Roh's only hope now is that the Constitutional Court will reverse his removal. By Saturday evening, he had made no direct comment on his ousting, although his spokesman urged the nine-judge court to deliver a speedy ruling, expressing confidence that the pretext for the impeachment was too thin to legally stand...
...weeks ahead, a groundswell of Roh supporters could also make themselves heard. On the night of March 13, tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside the National Assembly for a candlelight vigil. "From now on we have to fight even harder for Roh," says Kim Yong Seok, a member of Nosamo, an organization of Roh's most loyal backers. In Seoul's glitzy Myongdong district, even opposition supporters were put off by the political mess. Businessman Kang Jin Woo says he voted for the GNP during the 2002 presidential race, but is disgusted by its latest maneuver...
...Korea University's Hahm says if Uri Party politicians win big in the general election, the Constitutional Court judges might take that into account and reinstate Roh. "Then he can keep the presidency," adds Hahm. Or, rather, return to it. Roh Moo Hyun promised to make waves if he was allowed to lead South Korea. He's done that, but now he must avoid being swamped by the murky backwash...