Park returns home from South America to face new political crisis

By Kim Kwang-tae

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye returned home from a 12-day South America trip on Monday to face a deepening political crisis touched off by a massive bribery scandal involving her prime minister and some other close associates.

Trade and economic cooperation were the main theme of Park's four-nation swing through South America that began on April 16. Officials boasted of noticeable achievements resulted from the trip but the travel was overshadowed by the bribery scandal.

Park's trip to Colombia, Peru, Chile and Brazil came as South Korea is pushing to expand economic cooperation with the region hailed by Seoul officials as a continent of opportunities.

South Korea has signed a set of memorandums of understanding with the four countries which, among other things, call for closer cooperation in the fields of telemedicine, renewable energy and e-commerce.

In Colombia, Park asked Bogota to quickly ratify a free trade agreement it had signed with South Korea. In Lima, she and her Peruvian counterpart Ollanta Humala jointly celebrated the rollout of the first basic trainer jet assembled in Peru in cooperation with South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd.

Park and Humala specifically agreed to cooperate in Peru's advanced trainer jet project, boosting hopes for a South Korean defense firm to win the project.

In Chile, Park and her Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, agreed to upgrade the two countries' bilateral free trade agreement now in force in conformity with the changing global trade environment. In Brazil, she and her Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, agreed to strengthen partnership by diversifying economic cooperation.

Still, Park could not afford to bask in her diplomatic achievements amid a raging public backlash over the widening bribery scandal and last year's deadly ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, mostly high-school teens.

Even before she left Seoul, Park was met with criticism as she began the trip on the anniversary day of the ferry tragedy. Thousands of protesters, joined by the bereaved families, clashed with riot police in the center of Seoul last weekend as they attempted to march toward the presidential office. Dozens of people were injured on both sides.

Critics argue that the governments botched initial rescue attempts should be blamed for one of the nation's worst peacetime disasters.

Adding to the plight of the president, Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo offered to step down amid raging allegations that he took 30 million won (US$27,000) from a businessman at the center of the bribery scandal. Before killing himself by hanging earlier this month, the businessman left behind a memo listing the names of Lee and seven other high-profile politicians he claimed to have bribed. All but one listed on the memo are close associates of the president.

Park is expected to accept Lee's resignation offer as early as this week. Lee assumed the nation's No. 2 post a little over two months ago after obtaining parliamentary confirmation.

Last year, Park's two choices for the prime minister withdrew over allegations of ethical and other lapses.

In South Korea, the prime minister is the only Cabinet post that requires parliamentary confirmation. Critics say hearings frequently end up humiliating the nominee mainly over his or her past records or ethical lapses, not debating about his or her skills required for the job.

entropy@yna.co.kr
(END)