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President of South Korea impeached

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Courtesy of KOREA.NET

South Korean President Park Geun-hye was accused of a corruption scandal that led to the first impeachment in the country’s history.

President Park, impeached with a vote of 234 to 56 by lawmakers in South Korea’s National Assembly, had plans to stay in office until February 2018. She is currently facing a trial that could take up to 180 days.

One charge Park faces resulted from her blacklisting thousands of Korean artists.

Andrew Yoon, member of University Bible Fellowship in Korea, explained that the Minister said that whoever did not agree with the government was added to the list.

He explained that such list has made unfair and unjust operations in the government.

“They were prohibited to be employed or awarded government related positions and projects of support, research and affairs,” Yoon said.

Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok was arrested on Jan. 21 under suspicion of helping create the blacklist. 

According to the New York Times, anonymous sources have posted two different versions of the list. 

A list posted in 2015 revealed the names of more than 9,000 people, some of which are well-known Korean artists.

“Surely, it shows that her government and leadership are very narrow minded,” Yoon said.

On Jan. 23, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism publicly apologized to the nation for the blacklist. 

Cho and President Park’s former chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, face charges of abuse of power and perjury according to BBC news.

“The people in the list were deprived of basic human rights as citizens of the country,” Yoon said. “They view people of different opinion as enemies, not as partners. They did not know how to work with people of different opinion.”

Yoon explained that this list is not the main issue addressed in Korean news and instead, the main issue is President Park’s impeachment.

“Her leadership and government are not good or suitable for this generation of diversity,” Yoon said.

Soon-Heung Chang, president of Handong Global University, said that the impeachment of President Park was the decision of the Constitutional Court.

Chang explained that love and justice are the most important aspects in government and that South Korea should strive for change and for a more democratic and just country.

“Every politician says that they love their people but if you do, you must have honesty and you must keep the justice,” Chang said; “Sometimes people neglect honesty or justice but you can’t love your neighborhood if you can’t love your neighbor.”

Yoon explained that President Park used her political influence to make new rules, and collected money from big companies. He said she has also used her power for her own personal benefit.

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