Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Both parties worry about damage on Park
By Jun Ji-hye
President Park Geun-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Members of both the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) expressed concern Wednesday about the impact the continuing “memogate” scandal will have on the presidency of Park Geun-hye.
These concerns reached their peak Monday, as her younger brother, Park Ji-man, presented himself before the prosecution for questioning over the scandal that centers on leaked memoranda from Cheong Wa Dae.
“The brother’s appearance before the prosecution seems to deal a heavy blow to the President in her management of state affairs,” said a lawmaker of the government camp, asking not to be named.
An NPAD lawmaker agreed, saying, “President Park is now passing only the second year of her five-year term. It is not good that her family member showed up at the prosecution at this early stage.”
In the nation’s history, political scandals involving presidents’ family members have taken place later in their terms, or after they left office.
President Park took office on Feb. 25, 2013.
The leaked memo suggests there was a power struggle involving Park Ji-man and Jeong Yun-hoe, a former confidant of President Park. The brother also allegedly received more than 100 classified documents from reporters from the Segye Ilbo vernacular daily, which mostly contained information about him and his wife, lawyer Seo Hyang-hee.
Contrary to expectations, the President kept her silence on the day her brother was questioned. It had been expected that she would say something about the scandal at a meeting with her senior secretaries, given that she previously did so in a bid to defend her administration.
For his part, the brother said nothing when faced with a flurry of questions from reporters in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul.
A number of lawmakers have blamed the mounting controversy over the scandal on Park’s closed and secretive style in managing state affairs.
National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa openly criticized Park for her lack of communication with the parliament.
“I haven’t been able to talk to the President on the phone since my inauguration in June. I tried to call her twice, but her phone was turned off both times,” he said at a meeting with TV reporters Tuesday.
Dissatisfaction with the President was evidenced by a recent Realmeter poll, which showed that her approval ratings fell to 39.7 percent. It was first time her approval rating has dipped below 40 percent since her inauguration.
Rival lawmakers, however, had different views about whether Park will be able to overcome the crisis.
The ruling party lawmaker said, “It has not been proven that the brother violated any law. I believe Park’s ratings will go up in a while.”
On the other hand, the opposition lawmaker said, “Whether she regains her popularity will depend on how she clears up the situation. She needs to explain the controversy directly to the public as the incident involved figures surrounding her and the presidential office.”
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