When I moved to South Korea in 2015, I was impressed the country had a female president. In 2016, I thought the US would follow suit. Unfortunately, the unthinkable happened: Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States.
Before Trump was elected (he lost the popular vote by more than 3 million by the way), Korea had its own political crisis with Park scandal. And yet, the Korean people moved swiftly and in unison with a single goal in mind: Impeach President Park. Public protests ran from October through March, with 1.9 million protestors taking to the streets on Dec. 3 -- the largest protest in Korea’s history. Park was impeached and Koreans showed the world the power of well-organized mass protests. America needs to do the same with Trump.
Let me be clear: Although I didn’t vote for Trump, I wished him the best and gave him the respect becoming of a US president. Unfortunately, he has proven himself a terrible leader. Currently, he is under investigation for obstruction of justice for telling former FBI director James Comey to stop investigating his ties to Russia. And, he still hasn’t turned over his tax returns -- a first for a US president.
Trump also pulled America out of the Paris climate agreement (a move professor Stephen Hawking says may trigger an end to life on Earth), proposed a health care bill that would leave 23 million Americans uninsured and bombed Syria. He’s also ratcheted up tensions with North Korea and bragged about sexually harassing women.
In addition, anti-Islamic crimes in America grew by 67 percent in 2016 with a senior researcher saying, “2016 was an unprecedented year for hate.” Trump has also not kept good on his promise to build a border wall with Mexico, or save American jobs from moving abroad. As of June 7, Trump’s approval rating was 34 percent -- the lowest of any US president in modern history.
And yet, what can be done? If we look at how Korea handled its bad president, everything. In particular, mass protest. After it was discovered that President Park had been extorting money from chaebol and sharing state secrets with Choi Soon-sil, the Korean people took action. They organized protests and hit the streets. Most importantly, they continued to protest until their goals were realized.
Every weekend, for more than four months after the Park scandal broke, there were mass protests in Korea. After Trump was elected, there were mass protests in cities such as New York, Chicago and Oakland, but they only lasted for a few days. What Korea has taught us about mass protest is simple: Persistence counts.
With most of the country mobilized against Park, the government had no choice but to investigate her further, eventually leading to her impeachment. Why can’t America do the same? If there were enough public resistance against Trump, in the form of mass protests, Trump would have no choice but to resign.
It’s true that the US is larger and harder to mobilize than Korea, but we also have a rich history of mass protest, such as the Million Man March for Civil Rights in the 1960s and the mass protests against the Vietnam War in the 1970s -- in both instances the government gave in to protestors demands and the country was better off for it.
If there’s one thing we have learned from the Park scandal, it’s the power of mass protest. In a democracy, it’s the responsibility of the citizens to hold their government accountable and demand rightful change. But to do this, people must be engaged and dedicated, as the Korean people were with the Park scandal. Americans should take note and mobilize persistent mass protests against President Trump demanding his resignation, before he does irreversible damage to America, the climate, and the world at large.
From Murdock O’Mooney(
murdockomooney@live.com)
