Police stand guard at an outpost just outside Park Geun-hye's private home in Seoul. [Yonhap Photo]
South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-hye faces a humiliating and unease life outside the presidential office after the constitutional court endorsed her impeachment in a historic ruling.
Since she was impeached in parliament on December 9, Park has lived safely in the heavily guarded Blue House under the care of chefs, maids, hair designers and other assistant staff until the Constitutional Court endorsed her impeachment.
From now, she would live in her private home in Seoul, waiting for an interrogation by state prosecutors who have described her as a criminal accomplice. By law, former presidents are provided with a pension, secretaries, drivers and medical coverage. However, Park lost such benefits except for security protection.
Park's life outside the presidential office will be tougher than she thinks because many citizens want her punishment and arrest for her active role in a corruption scandal. More embarrassing is that her crony and spiritual partner, Choi Soon-sil, and other confidants who used to uphold Park as willing tools have landed in prison or will stay away from the dethroned boss.
Since late October, the scandal has put South Korea into a political quagmire, paralyzing state affairs and aggravating economic woes. Many citizens have been left with a deep sense of malaise and frustration. But they now feel proud for opening a new chapter in South Korea's turbulent political history.
Young girls, high-school students, middle-aged citizens, housewives and their children carrying candles and paper placards have held a string of peaceful protests demanding Park's ouster, showing a mature civic awareness.
Such a scene was unthinkable under the 18-year rule of Park's father who seized power in a military coup in 1961. The late president, assassinated in 1979 by his intelligence chief, was credited with pioneering South Korea's rapid industrialization. At the same time, he was criticized for the brutal suppression of democracy.
Park, who took office in early 2013 as South Korea's first female president, has flatly refused to step down by herself, although she admitted she should be blamed for mismanagement.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
