Park takes rally 'seriously'

By Yi Whan-woo

President Park Geun-hye is well aware of the severity of the Saturday's massive candlelit rally and is considering all measures to normalize state affairs, the presidential office said Sunday.

However, her initial reaction to the nation's biggest candlelit rally in decades shows that Park will not accept the people's calls for her to resignation.

Presidential chief of staff Han Kwang-ok and other senior presidential secretaries discussed, Sunday, ways to cope with the unprecedented rally, which organizers say was participated in by more than 1 million people demanding that Park resign.

"We take the public anger expressed in the rally very seriously, a presidential spokesman said after the talks.

"We are gathering ideas to come up with correct measures to resolve the current political chaos."

He said Park observed the rally from her official residence in Cheong Wa Dae, adding that: "President Park is at pains over how to fulfill her duty as president and normalize state affairs."

Analysts said Cheong Wa Dae was falling short of placating the public.

They said Park must step down or declare that she will give up much of her power as quickly as possible to minimize confusion at home and abroad.

With the prosecution's inquiry into Park's involvement in a corruption scandal appearing imminent, she is expected to issue another public statement this week ― this time possibly including how to normalize state affairs.

Her previous two apologies over the scandal failed to calm public anger with fresh allegations surrounding her and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil surfacing almost every day.

Analysts said the rally at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul, Saturday, indicated that the people had "crossed the threshold" in their tolerance.

They said public protest might spread further, pointing out that Saturday's rally was accompanied by other anti-Park protests in major cities here and abroad. Some analysts said resignation may be Park's only option.

"It even may be too late for Park to wait until the National Assembly-picked prime minister comes in to replace her in the job," said Shin Yul, a politics professor at Myongji University.

On Nov. 8, the President promised to appoint a prime minister recommended by the Assembly to oversee the Cabinet.

Her move was in line with a call for her to step aside from all state affairs and nominally remain in office until her term ends in February 2018.

Questioning her sincerity, several hard-line opposition lawmakers are still refusing to cooperate with the President and have asked her to resign.

After her apologies, Oct. 25 and Nov. 4, Park was criticized for failing to clear suspicions that Choi influenced her and meddled in state affairs to take illicit benefits.

She was also accused of falling short of explaining why she pushed to appoint Kookmin University Professor Kim Byeong-joon as the new prime minister to replace Hwang Kyo-ahn without consulting the Assembly.

"In this climate, not many people would buy her promise that she will not intervene in state affairs," Shin said. "Her resignation and an early presidential election may be the only viable choice she has left."

Im Tobin, a public administration professor at Seoul National Assembly, agreed.

"Her apologies only added fuel to the fire and any further apologies are expected only to deepen suspicions," he said, citing claims from political sources that Park may apologize again this week.

In a separate bid last week, the President said she would accept questioning by the prosecution if necessary.

Im said such possible cooperation will not be enough to win public trust. He referred to the people's distrust of the prosecution after a photo released by the Chosun Ilbo last week showed investigators seemingly going easy on Woo Byung-woo, Park's former senior secretary for civil affairs and also a former prosecutor.

Woo is suspected of having links to Choi in addition to his alleged embezzlement and abuse of power in a separate case. The prosecution summoned him last week for questioning.

"The President may not have known about all the allegations concerning Choi and her aides and may want to prove it before the prosecution," Im said.

"But it's unlikely to work considering the people have no faith in the prosecution. I think she may consider stepping down."

An estimated 1 million people took to the streets in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul in the biggest protest in Korea since June 1987 during the democratic uprising against military dictator Chun Doo-hwan.

From Friday to Saturday, smaller groups also held anti-Park rallies separately in Busan, Daegu and Gwangju as well as in 30 cities in 10 countries, including Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Osaka, Berlin, Paris, New Delhi and Sao Paulo.

The Gwanghwamun rally was the third in successive weeks. Another rally is expected on Nov. 19.

Park has been keeping track of the public protests from her home, according to presidential officials.