“We Dismiss the Defendant, President Park Geun-hye.”

March 13 was a historic day for South Korea. On this day, the Constitutional Court of South Korea upheld a decision to impeach President Park Geun-hye over her alleged corruption. The decision was unanimous, with all eight judges on the court agreeing to remove Park from office.
“We dismiss the defendant, President Park,” said Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi. Therefore, Park, the nation’s first female president, became the first president to be ousted. She is now stripped of her immunity and liable to prosecution on criminal charges.

Revenge

Beijing’s punitive measures against South Korea’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment have become more widespread.
The Chinese government has issued guidelines to schools to boycott Korean goods, and its authorities have toughened restrictions on Korean markets and production. In addition, the boycott campaigns against Korean products have been expanding. Experts say that the world’s second-largest country’s retaliatory actions were initially aimed at certain Korean shops and stores but they have been gradually developing into a more general form. They call for diplomatic responses to this issue as these actions are not just limited to certain Korean companies, but are certainly measures of revenge against Korea.

Election with Cherry Blossoms

The presidential election date has moved up. Since President Park has been thrown out of office, the presidential election for the 19th president of South Korea is going to take place on May 9. According to the Public Official Election Act, since a presidential election or re-election must take place on the occurrence of a vacancy of the presidential office, an election should be held within 60 days after the reason for holding the election is confirmed.

Come Out

After spending more than 1,000 days under the water, the Sewol ferry finally came out of the water on March 25. Will the truth on the ferry disaster also come out of the dark?

“Dad, I Did Not Make All My Calls”

The last word she left was “Dad, I did not make all my (assigned) calls.” A specialized high school student who worked as a counselor at a call center, drove herself to commit suicide on Jan. 23. Her excessive work at the center is allegedly the reason for her death.

Suspect Park

Former President Park Geun-hye appeared for questioning over her corruption scandal at the prosecution’s office on March 21. She came to the office as a person suspected of receiving bribes worth 43.4 billion Korean won.

Water Cannon

Seoul National University administration blasted its students with water cannons on March 11. This accident came after the students finished a 153-day protest, in opposition to the school’s project to create Siheung Campus.

Hidden Dragons

President hopefuls are preparing for the nation’s presidential election for the 19th president of South Korea.

By Lee Jae-won
Editor-in-Chief
gh10117@hufs.ac.kr