Eight justices of South Korea's Constitutional Court showed that no leader is above the law. They have just removed the country's first woman president, Park Geun-Hye. Ms. Park is a conservative who takes a hard line toward North Korea. She has for months been embroiled in a corruption scandal that has reached through the high echelons of the government. She was essentially confined to her country's White House which is called the Blue House last December after an impeachment vote by the country's legislature
Daughter of a dictator
Ms. Park is the daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee and had spent much of her life in the Blue House.
But that dwelling may soon be occupied by a member of the opposition which has a more open attitude to North Korea.
To say that things are peaceful now would be false. The removal of Ms. Park was punctuated by an angry demonstration of her supporters, mostly elderly, two of whom died during the fracas. There will be an election within 60 days.
YTN reports pro #ParkGeunHye sides are trying to damage TV channel cameras to show their anger of court's unanimous decision of #impeachment
— Jaehwan Cho 조재환 (@hohocho) March 10, 2017
South Korea court upholds impeachment of President Park Guen-hye.https://t.co/K3DstixSb3
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) March 10, 2017
The tangled web
If one seeks to sort out the tangled web of South Korean politics, three strands emerge.
The dictator strand represented by Ms. Park's father produced a time of change and massive economic growth. This success story cannot be ignored. The democracy strand was a constant irritant to the partisans of rapid achievement of prosperity. Human rights have always been an iffy matter. The prospect for a progressive takeover in South Korea is the third strand.
It is likewise iffy.
Moon Jae-in
The Democratic Party in South Korea is led by Moon Jae-in, a partisan of bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table. Mr. Moon wants a national cleanup followed by the creation of a new nation.
Donald Trump apparently does not want anything but the isolation of North Korea. He wants Ms. Park's successor fully on board with missile defense.
Trump would appear to be opposed to the very movement experts think may be underway -- a slow march away from years of dictatorial rule marred by crony capitalism and corruption.
The relationship between the two countries feels a bit like two ships in a fog in danger of colliding.
