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| President Park Geun-hye looks around Seomun Market in her hometown of Daegu, Thursday, after part of it was burned to the ground by a huge fire a day earlier. The visit is Park's first scheduled outing in 35 days, following the eruption of an influence-peddling scandal surrounding her and her friend Choi Soon-sil. / Yonhap |
By Kim Bo-eun
President Park Geun-hye visited the fire-ravaged traditional market in her hometown of Daegu, Thursday, in her first outside activity in over a month, following the eruption of the massive influence-peddling scandal.
Park paid a visit to a building in section four of Seomun Market, which caught fire early Wednesday and burned for over eight hours, injuring two firefighters and gutting the entire building housing 840 shops.
The visit was low-profile — the President was not accompanied by a crowd of reporters and only a minimal entourage — considering public opinion, which has hit record lows.
According to Yonhap News Agency, her visit was no more than 15 minutes.
She spoke with victims at the site, who thanked her for the visit. Park didn't drop by the situation room where local authorities were working to contain the situation. Supporters cheered for Park, but some expressed their disapproval.
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Daegu is the President's city of birth and also the traditional home turf of Korea's conservatives.
Park's visit to the southeastern city is seen as a move to consolidate support amid ongoing discussions on her resignation. Her approval rating dropped to a record-low of 4 percent in the last week of November, due to the public's discontent with her response to the scandal.
The President's third public address on the matter involving her confidant, Choi Soon-sil, Tuesday only angered the public further.
Park implied she had not committed any wrongdoing and would not voluntarily step down, despite having been named by the prosecution as an accomplice and "criminal suspect" in extorting funds for Choi from conglomerates and letting her see classified state documents. The President said she would leave it up to the National Assembly to make a decision on her resignation. The people have vowed to take to the streets for a sixth consecutive weekly rally Saturday.
Park is known to have visited her hometown in situations of crisis, such as when she was lagging in polls ahead of the presidential election in 2012.
There are suspicions that the fire was intentionally lit by a citizen angered by the current state of affairs. Police are investigating the cause, based on surveillance footage and testimonies, saying it could take up to two weeks.
Meanwhile, moves to impeach the President have been halted after the ruling Saenuri Party reached an internal consensus that Park should step down in April. Opposition parties had attempted to put the impeachment motion to vote today.
The President's previous appearance in an external event was on Oct. 27, when she attended a local government event in the southern city of Busan, days after the scandal erupted. University students protesting the event were removed by police.
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