Celebrities are voicing anger via social media over President Park Geun-hye’s Tuesday announcement, in which she said she would let the National Assembly decide the fate of her presidency.
“I am so angry,” celebrity writer Heo Ji-woong posted to his Instagram account Tuesday with a photo of a television screen depicting Park’s address. “She is tossing the ball over to the National Assembly, which will obviously be unable to reach an answer at this point. I am so angry at the president and the speech’s writer who are probably patting themselves on the back for such a sly tactic.”
Park’s Tuesday statement came amid anticipations of an impeachment bill, which could legally force Park out of the presidency.
The address was interpreted by the opposition as a staunch refusal to resign voluntarily and a ploy to delay the impeachment process.
Heo urged lawmakers to push forward with impeachment, saying: “I hope the National Assembly will understand the gravity of its historical calling, and that both the ruling and opposition parties will gather all their strength for impeachment, without division or stepping backwards.”
A screenshot of celebrity writer Heo Ji-woong’s Instagram post. (Instagram)
“In the short term, they will recover the trust of the people and in the long term, they will mark the starting point of constructing a country which they can truly be proud of,” Heo added.
“If (the National Assembly) shows tolerance for such corruption and lets it be due to politically motivated reasons, nothing can be built on top of that.”
Many supported his views. “I respect your courage to speak up,” “I feel so frustrated,” “Please let impeachment take place,” read some of the comments. One comment defended Park, saying, “We still haven’t seen evidence of her wrongdoing.”
Comedian Kim Je-dong and rocker Lee Seung-hwan also posted to their Facebook accounts Tuesday, expressing anger and urging people to continue protesting.
President Park Geun-hye, along with her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, is currently at the center of a scandal involving the alleged leaking of confidential documents, abuse of authority and extortion of massive amounts of money from corporations.
By Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)
