Park must come clean about scandal

President Park Geun-hye attends a ceremony to receive credentials from newly appointed ambassadors at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday. Since her public apology on Tuesday, in which she admitted her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil edited presidential speeches before their delivery dates, Park has kept mum on other allegations surrounding the scandal. / Yonhap

President orders all senior secretaries to resign

By Kim Hyo-jin

President Park Geun-hye has let down the people over the scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil. Even her most stalwart supporters are turning their backs on her.

She admitted Tuesday to having sought advice from her longtime friend and apologized for causing public concern.

But that is far from enough — tens of thousands will take to the streets to protest the scandal this weekend. More would join the protest unless Park tells the whole truth behind the shameful influence-peddling scandal.

After owning up to what has happened exactly, analysts said, Park should conduct a full-scale reshuffle of her senior secretaries and Cabinet. The President late Friday evening ordered all her senior secretaries to tender their resignations. A presidential spokesman said that she is expected to carry out the reshuffle soon.

“The public has virtually impeached her from the nation’s chief executive post in their minds,” said Lee Nae-young, a professor of political science at Korea University.

“She should come clean and move onto action to show her sincerity in dealing with the situation, otherwise she will inevitably face public protests getting out of control.”

Kim Sung-soo, a professor of political science at Hanyang University, echoed Lee’s view.

“Park must get the public system back on track through a personnel reshuffle,” Kim said. “It is the basic and foremost solution in this state of crisis caused by the abuse of power by Park’s private connections.”

The calls came as Cheong Wa Dae had remained silent on any solutions so far, despite intensifying criticism over the scandal that the President allowed Choi to use their relationship to meddle in state affairs.

“The President is pondering multiple directions over how to address public anxieties and unwaveringly manage state affairs,” a presidential official told reporters earlier in the day.

Park canceled a scheduled luncheon with civic members of the presidential committee for unification preparation to focus on considering potential solutions, the official said.

However, later in the day, she had a closed-door meeting with ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Lee Jung-hyun at Cheong Wa Dae.

According to Lee, he called on the President for a swift personnel reshuffle in a 90-minute meeting.

He also asked Park to support a thorough investigation of the scandal by either the prosecution or an independent counsel and to repatriate Choi from Germany swiftly.

“I stressed that a full-scale investigation and state management should be pursued in parallel,” he told reporters.

Many view that the presidential office remains too idle in response to the worsening public sentiment.

The latest Gallup poll showed that Park’s approval rating fell to a record low of 17 percent, a decrease of 8 percentage points from a week earlier.

Park failed to ease the public furor with her apology on Tuesday, a day after local broadcaster JTBC reported that Choi, who holds no public post, was involved in editing presidential speeches before their actual delivery.

Park acknowledged in a hastily called press conference that she shared certain documents with Choi to seek feedback only during the early months of her presidency.

The suspicions, however, have been snowballing since then with additional reports that Choi may have exerted far-reaching influence on state affairs including diplomatic and security policies.

Amid the mounting controversy, some also voiced that Park should step aside in dealing with state affairs.

“It will be an ideal scenario at this stage if Park’s authority should be reduced to handling diplomacy and defense while a new prime minister takes the lead in managing state affairs,” said Lee Jun-han, a professor of political science at Incheon National University.

Professor Lee agreed, suggesting that a figure free from partisan views should be put forward by rival parties and take charge of the administration.

Kim Soo-jin, a professor of political science at Ewha Womans University, advised that Park should withdraw her membership from the Saenuri Party if she is sincere about dealing with the scandal.

“Park should allow room for the parties to get to the bottom of the scandal. Distancing herself from the political sphere can be a way to start,” he said.

In line with the criticisms of the opposition parties and the public, Saenuri Party also put pressure on Park to come up with measures to mend the situation.

Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of the Saenuri Party, said, “Unless Park conducts a personnel and Cabinet reshuffle, the party leadership will all step down.”