SEOUL -- The always contentious South Korean political scene was shattered last week with the impeachment of the sitting president, Roh Moo Hyun, with both Korea watchers and Koreans themselves who take their young democracy very seriously caught off guard.
Once again, South Korea was showing its worst side to the world, with plenty of blame to go around. Roh did himself no good by questioning his own effectiveness as president and offering to hold an unprecedented referendum on whether he should continue in office. Whether or not this was a political ploy to bolster his political standing in the polls, it opened the way for opposition parties to capitalize on an unending string of corruption and related scandals laid ever closer to Roh's doorstep, combined with revelations of campaign shakedowns by both major political parties during the 2002 presidential campaign.
But the straw that broke the camel's back was trivial by comparison: the president voiced support for the newly formed Uri Party -- which is composed of his core supporters -- allegedly in violation of an election law that itself may not pass muster. This led to the National Assembly vote last week, accompanied by shouting and shoving inside the chamber and arrests and arson outside.