This week, South Korean citizens have been going ballistic over President Park’s biggest scandal yet, which may possibly mean her political demise. This scandal has been known as the “Choi gate”, a reference to the “Water gate” which was a major political scandal in the United States that called for the impeachment of President Nixon.
After seizing computer evidence, it has been revealed that there was a previously unknown “shadow” president for South Korea, Choi Soon-sil, who is not an elected government official but an old confidant. Many allegations were made against President Park that Choi was intervening in state affairs and had access to confidential documents regarding national security of South Korea. Choi had also abused her personal connections with President Park to coerce big corporations to donate tens of millions of dollars into her two non profit organizations.
Despite their scandals, controversies, and negative representation in the public, what we have to realize is that she is still an impressive woman. President Park became the first female president in a very traditional Korean patriarchal society. Korea was ranked the 111th worst country for gender equality out of 135 countries according to the 2013 gender equality index by the World Economic Forum. It is an achievement for Park to have broken through gender stereotypes and show her prowess as a politician.
Even though President Park might have put cracks in the glass ceiling for future women and female politicians, Korea is still frenetic over the political scandal that made her televise a national apology. The impeachment of President Park would only follow through when concrete evidence is found violating the law so the outcomes of this corruption are unknown and further investigations must be made. However, President Park shouldn’t relax now as the stakes of her losing her job are high.
