| President Roh Moo-hyun faces early resignation Today in South Korea, the parliamentary opposition will begin the procedure for removing President Roh Moo-hyun from power in the National Assembly. MPs from the Grand National Party and the Millennium Democrats accuse the president, who has earned the nickname Cool But, of violating voting rights. This is how the opposition interpreted the president’s promise to “do everything possible within the law” to win his supporters in the parliamentary elections.
Political passions are heating up - yesterday in the center of Seoul, a supporter of Roh Moo-hyun's rule attempted self-immolation. The incident occurred near the parliament building during a demonstration in support of the president. The police arrived in time and managed to put out the flames with fire extinguishers; the suicide was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
According to experts, the opposition that controls parliament is unlikely to be able to remove President Roh. After all, the final verdict on impeachment must be rendered by the Supreme Court within six months. Getting the agreement of at least six of the nine judges is almost impossible. If the decision on impeachment does pass through parliament, then power will pass to South Korean Prime Minister Ko Gon during the trial.
Cool But, who had previously rejected opposition demands to apologize for breaking the law, did apologize yesterday - but only for his employees receiving illegal donations for the 2002 presidential campaign. He even promised journalists, although without going into details, to “make a political decision to resign” following the results of the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 15. At the same time, Mr. Noh linked his possible departure to the ratio of the amount of illegal financing of his presidential campaign to the amount of fiscal violations of the opposition. According to him, the opposition received much more, and Roh Moo-hyun will leave his post voluntarily without any impeachment if his abuses amount to one-tenth of the opposition bribes are proven.
At the same time, the president rejected accusations that he was lobbying for the business interests of his brother Roh Gong Pyeong. If Ro Moo-hyun retains power, then in June-July this year he may become a guest of the Russian president. This possibility, according to VN, was tentatively discussed by Vladimir Putin and Roh Moo-hyun during the summit on October 21, 2003. Katerina LABETSKAYA |
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