Bloggers question President's credibility

By Kim Rahn

The continuing brouhaha over the actions of one of President Park Geun-hye’s former closest advisers could be based on false rumors as Cheong Wa Dae insists, but the political fallout is damaging the administration’s credibility.

The public are confused over whether to believe all the rumors about the figure at the center of the issue ― Jeong Yun-hoe ― with conservative and liberal groups voicing conflicting opinions.

It has become the hottest topic discussed on Korean language media websites. And despite the government’s continuing strong denials, many bloggers have cast doubt and suspicion over the President’s style of governance.

Since the Segye Ilbo first reported Friday that Jeong interfered with state affairs by engaging in regular meetings with presidential officials, despite the fact that he does not hold an official position, stories about him have continued to make headlines, drawing thousands of comments from bloggers.

“Why does this administration has so many rumors and troubles? Everything is in doubt,” wrote one blogger, maum, on a portal site.

“Doesn’t the Park administration know what went on or does it pretend not to know that people whisper and raise questions about its irrational acts?”

Another Internet user, sanhoya, said, “The true power of Cheong Wa Dae came from neither Park, nor Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon, but from Jeong. Now the complex mysteries are unraveling!”

Some criticized the government’s move to have the prosecution investigate how the alleged internal memo from Cheong Wa Dae about Jeong was leaked in the first place.

“The core of the case is whether or not Jeong meddled in state affairs. How the memo was leaked should be a secondary issue. The government should not try to gloss over the core,” wrote another blogger, taeyangi.

While Park said that the leak of the document was a serious breach of government discipline, another online commentator, tomcat, wrote, “Right, such a leak is a breach of government discipline. But when we think about the seriousness, what’s written on the memo is 1000 times more serious than the leak, if the story is true.”

Another blogger, nohu, commented, “President should reflect on herself for failing to manage the people around herself.”

Others commented that it is too early to make a judgment on the issue because it has not yet been established whether the information in the memo was true.

“The prosecution should first thoroughly investigate all the figures involved, regardless of their rank,” wrote blogger parkheewon. “We need to wait for the results of the probe. We should behave prudently.”

Others claimed that the rumors are politically biased. “This is a strategy from the opposition parties to hurt the Park administration in an effort to win the next presidential election. Prosecutors should investigate all people involved and take legal action against those responsible, so that the government can conduct state affairs without any trouble,” wrote another commentator, parkyoung.