Historically unprecedented mobilisations of South Korean indigados forced the parliament to impeach the incompetent and corrupt president, and this is a significant victory of the people power. However, with this historical triumph, the popular struggle is heading into the uncertain terrains.

 After Impeachment

At four o’clock of December 9, the parliament passed the historic motion of the presidential impeachment by the overwhelming votes of 234 against 56, with 7 invalid votes and 2 abstentions. At seven o’clock, the moment a copy of the motion was delivered to the Blue House, Park’s presidency officially stopped functioning and she was replaced with the prime minister as acting head of state.

Another copy was sent to the Constitutional Court, which is supposed to made a final verdict of the case within 6 month period. Thus, the whole procedures are up to the judges in the Constitutional Courts, which is composed of mostly conservatives with a few liberals in minority.

The opposition parties were relieved with the impeachment, proposing a consultant body of the government and the political parties for smooth governance in time of political crisis. However, the ruling party is riddled with fierce factional struggles for the leadership, taking a step further into the crisis of total collapse.

 Another 1 million strong rallies nationwide

The 7^th National Day of Candle Light Action was another huge success, in that one million people nationwide again, in spite of its smaller scale than the previous mega-protests. The atmosphere of the rallies and marches was even more like a festival celebrating an important victory, but the crowd still demanded the immediate resignation and arrest of Park Geunhye.

Most of participants said the impeachment is not an end, but just a new start, and that now it is a very precious opportunity to eliminate the corrupt political system and renovate politics radically, and many voiced their determination that they would join the protest every Saturday until the final ouster and arrest of the president.

Thus, after the impeachment, candles won’t die. Now eyes are on the proceedings of the Constitutional Court. According to a latest poll, more than 80 percent of respondents supported the impeachment, and more than 60 percent want the immediate resignation of the president.

 Candles Won’t Die!

On December 11, Sunday, the prosecution publicised an investigation result of the Choi-Park gate, and again clearly mentioned the president as a criminal accomplice. And yet, anothe round of investigations by a Special Prosecution Team is suppoed to start this week, with a focus on bribary and corruption charges, and the sessions of parliamentary hearing are going on. In the course of further investigations, more truth is likely to be revealed.

As the impeachment charges are so extensive, the concrete schedules of the impeachment trial are still uncertain, though the judges of the Constitutional Court told the press that they would do their duty as swift as possible.

In this context, conservative media exhorts the opposition to take an initiative over the politics of square, stablising the situation and returning to the politics as usual. And after the impeachment, media focus moves toward the next presidential election, which will held much earlier if the impeachment is finalised.

Thus, the extra-parliamentary struggle of candle light grassroots is now faced with a significant watershed: either it is to be absorbed by the institutional politics and its routine, or it is to go forward to finalise the ouster of the president and pursue a radical alternative to politics as usual. The coming months will witness the next round of struggles between the institution politics for status quo and the grassroots politics of square.

Yougnsu Won
International Forum in Korea
IFiK – Dec. 12, 2016