I noticed that most of the blog posts over the last few weeks are about democracy in the United States, however, we need to keep in mind that democracy also exists in other countries, and South Korea being one of them, its democracy is being threatened by the scandal that its President Park Geun-hye is involved in and possibly controlled by a Shamanistic cult.
The story starts with the discovery of some of Ms. Park’s speeches that are edited by her close friend Choi Soon-sil, who doesn’t hold any official position in the government. According to the New York times article “A Presidential Friendship Has Many South Koreans Crying Foul” by Choe Sang-hun, “she even had power over the president’s wardrobe, overseeing the design of her dresses and telling her what colors to wear on certain days.” As the investigation goes on, people find out that Ms. Choi’s father Choi Tae-min, is the founder of a mysterious cult called the Church of Eternal Life, and also the mentor of Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, the President of South Korea from 1963 to 1979. There have been rumors surrounding Ms. Park and Mr. Choi’s relationship even before she is elected. As the article states, “In a 2007 diplomatic cable made public through WikiLeaks, the American Embassy in Seoul reported rumors that Mr. Choi ‘had complete control over Park’s body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result.’ One such tale held that Ms. Park, who has never married, had his child. ” It is possible that his religious influence is passed on to his daughter, and if Ms. Park is a member of the cult, Ms. Choi is able to affect the President’s decisions or even her policy making.
Ms. Park has apologized for receiving help from Ms.Choi in her speeches, but she never acknowledged any involvement with her father’s cult. If the scandal is proven to be true, it means that there is no such thing as democracy in the Korean government since the President is following the orders from some secret organization instead of the will of the citizens, but the fact that someone outside of the government has such influence over the President without its people knowing already crumbles the democratic images of South Korea in our minds.
Although I’m not fully up-to-speed with this entire situation, I found it shocking that President Park Geun-hye thought it would be alright–if this situation is ultimately true–to share classified documentation with someone who is merely just a “friend” with no political background at all. Additionally, it definitely doesn’t help the ordeal with the given speculations about Mr. Choi’s relations to this cult, essentially a third party source, and the president. The situation reminds me of Clinton’s classified e-mail scandal, which is still on-going, but I guess we’ll see what the true details behind that event are in given time.
I agree with you when you say that if there really is a third party influence who has access to classified documentation and can even influence the president’s decisions, then the very idea of a democracy in South Korea would be flipped on its head. Having someone with a suspicious background, let alone no political standing, who was not voted in by the people would be unfathomable here in America, and I’m sure there’s a similar reaction by the South Koreans.