US Media: "South Korea's Park Geun-hye Impeachment Offers Lessons for the US... Partisan Interests Persist Despite Capitol Riot"

In 2016, citizens filling the plaza in front of City Hall at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul lit candles urging President Park Geun-hye to step down. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] As the U.S. Senate is conducting the impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump, an op-ed was published in the American media outlet The Washington Post (WP) arguing that the U.S. should learn from South Korea, which impeached former President Park Geun-hye.

Monica Williams, a journalist who introduced herself as having lived in Seoul during the Park Geun-hye impeachment phase, compared the impeachment political climates of South Korea and the U.S. in her WP op-ed on the 10th (local time), criticizing protests such as the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Williams said, "Protests in South Korea are so common that it is sometimes called a 'protest republic,'" noting that protests often fail to achieve their goals, but it was different during the Park impeachment.

She wrote, "Citizens outraged by the criminal charges against former President Park took to the streets demanding impeachment, and eventually nearly 2 million protesters called for her resignation."

She also noted, "Every week, protesters gathered at designated locations to light candles, marched closer to the Blue House, or danced to K-pop at Gwanghwamun Square," adding, "Although police presence increased, there was never a situation that got out of control."

She continued, "The public outcry was too loud to ignore, and after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion in December 2016, former President Park was officially impeached by the Constitutional Court in March of the following year."

She then questioned, "Where is a similar outcry in the U.S.? Where is the large-scale pressure from the left or the center? When will the right rise?" criticizing that while five people died in the U.S. due to the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters, partisan interests ('dangri dangryak,' meaning 'party's interest and strategy') still dominate.

Finally, she argued, "It is time for the U.S. to hold its leaders accountable. Voters need to demand this," adding, "Doing so is patriotic, not partisan, as South Korea has shown."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.