"SEOUL, South Korea — For months, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have gathered almost weekly near the presidential Blue House in Seoul, calling for the departure of Park Geun-hye as South Korea’s leader.
On Sunday, two days after the Constitutional Court removed her from office on charges of corruption and abuse of power, they got their wish, as Ms. Park left quietly in a motorcade that whisked her to her two-story red brick house in the southern part of the capital.
Ms. Park became the first South Korean leader to be forced out of office in response to popular pressure since the country’s founding president, Syngman Rhee, fled into exile in Hawaii in 1960 after protests against his corrupt, authoritarian rule.
‘I am sorry that I could not finish the presidential duty that was entrusted to me,’ Ms. Park said in a brief statement read by one of her former aides to reporters outside her home. ‘I will bear with me all the consequences.’
Continue reading the main story Ms. Park, who has been pressured by the opposition to publicly accept the court’s ruling and whose own party said it ‘humbly respected’ the decision, hinted that she disagreed with it. ‘It will take time,’ she said, ‘but I am sure that the truth will be known.’
As the motorcade carrying Ms. Park arrived at the house where she lived from 1990 to 2013, it pulled past hundreds of supporters lining the alley and waving national flags.
Ms. Park, who has now lost the privilege of immunity that came with the presidency, stepped out of the car, smiled and shook hands with former aides and party lawmakers who waited for her in front of her house."
(Via.). Park Geun-hye, Ousted South Korean Leader, Leaves Presidential Palace - The New York Times:
No comments:
Post a Comment