Jennifer Varela

There have been many democracies in the past that have backslid. Naturally, impeachment can leave a lot of people uneasy due to the sudden change in the regime. However, is that wariness really necessary? While there are examples of the aforementioned, like Abolhassan Banisadr[1] in Iran or Abdurrahman Wahid in Indonesia[2], there can also be cases where the country’s democracy actually flourished after an impeachment. A country that is a good example of that is South Korea, and their recent impeachment of former President Park Geun Hye.

Park Geun Hye was the first female president in the nation’s history, and she is also the daughter to former military dictator Park Chung Hee who ruled during the Cold War[3]. Park was also the second president ever to be tried for impeachment, and the first to be successfully impeached via a unanimous vote (8-0) on March 10, 2017. Prior to her impeachment, she had her executive powers removed in December of 2016 while she awaited for the results of the trial. Once she lost immunity as a leader, she was tried for extortion, bribery, and abuse of power which were all the key components to her impeachment[4]. The court that unanimously decided that she would be removed cited that Ms. Park’s acts could not be tolerated if they wanted to protect the constitution[5].

Many older citizens worried about the effect this move would have on their democracy as many of them were alive when Park’s father, Park Chung-Hee, was in charge of the country. They were aware of a flourishing economy with Park Chung Hee’s authoritarian rule, and feared that the impeachment could cause the country to return to an economically weak state. They speculated that the established democracy of South Korea had fallen to the trend seen in other countries of listening to populist movements. The people’s reasoning for demanding that the court and government continue with the impeachment process against Park was to ensure that the political elite’s views weren’t the only ones being represented in their country[6].

Following her presidency, Moon Jae In was later elected as President and resumed office immediately upon the election on May 10, 2017[7]. South Korean citizens felt like it was important to go through the impeachment process with Park Geun Hye even though she only had a couple more months left to serve her term. They wanted to show to the nation and the world that South Korea values their constitution and will not tolerate having it disrespected.  This sentiment goes for everyone in the nation, regardless of their status or wealth and this particular case was important to highlight to the conglomerates of the country (that are frequently tied to corruption within the government) that their wealth and influence will not be enough to overcome the law.

South Korea is one of the few democratically countries to has gone through an impeachment process in their country and not have their democracy suffer entirely for it. In fact, democracy in the country seems to have improved. Upon the announcement of Park’s passed impeachment vote by the court, many supporters of Park – who are primarily older and lived through the economic growth seen during her father’s rule –marched to the court and called to “destroy it” while clashing with police officers[8]. But in support of democracy the party that had just suffered a huge blow due to the impeachment acknowledged the court’s ruling. Park’s impeachment process was motivated by the people’s peaceful protests and strikes, which is a testament to the strengthening democracy. The legislature and judiciary were also essential to the success of a peaceful impeachment, and it was “a new milestone in the strengthening and institutionalizing of democracy in South Korea”[9].

Since and because of the indictments that led to the impeachment, political parties have also vowed to curtail presidential power that pardons chaebols (conglomerates) convicted of white-collar crimes. With this in mind, we must take into account the question of what we can learn from South Korea. Can its experience be replicated in other countries that could face similar situations in the future?

What we can learn from South Korea is that democratic institutions are resilient once people are willing to trust them and the process behind them, and once the opposition is also willing to work with the system even when it isn’t in their own party’s favor. Although for many, when there are situations that lead towards impeachment feel like the legitimacy of institutions is starting to dwindle, what can be seen through this example is that is not always the case. More than anything, it can be a sign of when people are willing to fight to keep those institutions. However, those same people that are willing to fight need to also be willing to put aside their own views in order to allow the process that will benefit everyone in the end to continue to work. It is important to hold the constitution and rule of law before any ideology or candidate; South Korea being a great example of that.  

[1] Britannica, Editors of Encyclopedia. “Abolhasan Bani-Sadr.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Mar. 18, 2019. Web. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abolhasan-Bani-Sadr

[2] Anglionby, John. “Indonesian leader to be impeached.” The Guardian. July 21, 2001. Web. Accessed Apr. 22, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/22/johnaglionby.theobserver

[3] Choe, Sang-Hun. ”South Korea Removes President Park Geun-Hye.” The New York Times. Mar. 9, 2017. Web. Accessed Jan. 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/asia/park-geun-hye-impeached-south-korea.html

[4] Choe, Sang-Hun. ”South Korea Removes President Park Geun-Hye.” The New York Times. Mar. 9, 2017. Web. Accessed Jan. 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/asia/park-geun-hye-impeached-south-korea.html

[5] Choe, Sang-Hun. ”South Korea Removes President Park Geun-Hye.” The New York Times. Mar. 9, 2017. Web. Accessed Jan. 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/asia/park-geun-hye-impeached-south-korea.html

[6] Shin, Gi-Wook and Rennie J. Moon. “South Korea after Impeachment.” Journal of Democracy. Oct. 2017. Web. Accessed Jan. 25, 2019. https://fsi-live.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/south_korea_after_impeachment.pdf

[7] Bae, Joo-Yon. “Moon Jae-In Sworn in as 19^th S. Korean President.” KBSWorldRadio. May 10, 2017. Web. Accessed Mar. 20, 2019. http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=127211

[8] Choe, Sang-Hun. ”South Korea Removes President Park Geun-Hye.” The New York Times. Mar. 9, 2017. Web. Accessed Jan. 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/asia/park-geun-hye-impeached-south-korea.html

[9] Choe, Sang-Hun. ”South Korea Removes President Park Geun-Hye.” The New York Times. Mar. 9, 2017. Web. Accessed Jan. 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/asia/park-geun-hye-impeached-south-korea.html