With president mired in crisis, opposition parties treading cautiously

Choo Mi-ae

As a vacuum forms in the South Korean government amid a flurry of reports corroborating charges of political meddling by Choi Sun-sil, a close confidante of President Park Geun-hye, lawmakers from the three opposition parties voiced their dismay over the state of the government in meetings of lawmakers and emergency committees on Oct. 26.“It would be no exaggeration to say that our government is being ruled by Choi Sun-sil as queen regent,” said Choo Mi-ae, leader of the Minjoo Party.“I’m confused about whether Choi Sun-sil is president or whether the president is Choi Sun-sil,” said Park Ji-won, chair of the emergency committee of the People’s PartyThe Minjoo Party and the People’s Party refrained from officially broaching the idea of Park stepping down, being impeached, or having her entire cabinet resign, due to concerns that if they ride the wave of public anger without offering a solution to this volatile situation, they might eventually face a political backlash.But Shim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party, raised the possibility of impeachment during an emergency meeting of the party’s standing committee on Oct. 26. “Park Geun-hye has lost the ability to run the country, and we ought to take action in line with the wishes of the public who are calling for her impeachment,” Shim said.During an emergency meeting of lawmakers on Oct. 26, the Minjoo Party decided to amend its official platform to include assigning a special prosecutor to investigate Choi Sun-sil‘s meddling in public affairs. In addition, party lawmakers agreed to call for a wholesale reshuffle of personnel at the Blue House, which would include the dismissal of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byung-woo along with Administrative Affairs Secretary Lee Jae-man, First Personal Secretary Jeong Ho-seong and Public Relations Secretary Ahn Bong-geun (who are known as the “doorknob triumvirate”).