Opposition party to decide on forcing Park out

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae and fellow lawmakers walk down a corridor at the National Assembly, Thursday, after an emergency party meeting to discuss the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is in a heated debate over whether to officially demand the resignation of President Park Geun-hye in connection with the Choi Soon-sil scandal.

The party is expected to make a decision in a general meeting, Friday.

“We are having difficulty in taking an official stance on whether to demand Park’s resignation because opinions are divided among our members,” a party official said.

Analysts viewed that the DPK leadership is being cautious of pushing for the President’s resignation as it could be a political burden for the main opposition party.

Calls are growing among the public and potential opposition presidential candidates that Park should step down in the fallout of the influence-peddling scandal involving her longtime confidant Choi.

Park recently conducted a unilateral partial Cabinet reshuffle without consulting the ruling or opposition parties about it, fueling anger among her dissenters.

Moon Jae-in a former party leader said, “If political solutions won’t work, we can’t help but make a critical decision.” Ahn Cheol-soo, ex-Chairman of the People’s Party and another potential opposition presidential candidate, also stepped up by saying, “I beg the President to step down from the post before the public completely turns their backs on her.”

With opposition bigwigs raising the tension, the DPK faced a growing call to raise an all-out war against Park from its supporters.

The party has urged Park to voluntarily make herself subject to the prosecutorial investigation and withdraw the unilateral reshuffle, calling it a trick to shun responsibility for the scandal. However, it has remained reluctant to officially call for Park’s resignation.

Some party officials speculate that this coming weekend could be a turning point for the leadership’s cautious attitude.

Party’s Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae and other party lawmakers are scheduled to participate in the funeral ceremony at Gwanghwamun Square for the late farmer Baek Nam-ki, who died following a 10-month coma after being knocked over by a police water cannon during protests last year.

The ceremony is scheduled to be followed by a massive rally afterwards. The rally to call for Park’s resignation has been arranged by civic groups in the same venue.

But Hwang Tae-soon, a senior political analyst, expects that the DPK leadership will hardly stretch their call for the President’s resignation.

“They wouldn’t risk holding a presidential election while they are not at all prepared,” he said. “When their biggest aim is the change of the government, they must hope the situation will be kept calm and won’t cause much backlash from the conservative voters.”