Nguyen, Katie

Mr. Wisner

World History

1st Period

November 30, 2016

Political Structures

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/world/asia/korea-park-geun-hye-protests.html

Key Vocabulary from the Article (Define at least 4).

o reverberate: be repeated several times as an echo
o extort: obtain (something) by force, threats, or other unfair means
o hearse: a vehicle for conveying the coffin at a funeral
o ousted: drive out or expel (someone) from a position or place

Summary of the Event (at least 3 major points; each point will have its own paragraph)

One of the largest anti-government protests in decades happened in Seoul on

Saturday, November 12, 2016. The police reported that there was an estimated turnout of
260,000 people. Other organizers have estimated that as many as one million people have
turned out to the protests. Protesters crowded around the main boulevard that faces the
Blue House, in which the president resides, on Saturday holding candles and signs. Police
buses formed a barricade to block protesters from getting too close to the presidential
offices. People of all ages and different backgrounds went to protest, calling for the
president to step down. Many also showed up to the protest to criticize Park Geun-hyes
other policies such as her views on comfort women and her decision to replace
privately published history textbooks to government-issued ones.
Anger over the president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, is due to allegations
that she shared confidential information to a private adviser, Choi Soon-sil. Soon-sil, the
daughter of a cult leader, used this information to extort large sums of money from
Korean companies and manipulate the president. From late October to mid-November,
the number of protesters rallying in downtown Seoul has continued to grow. These rallies
have been seen as some of the largest anti-government protests in decades. Park
Geun-hye has repeatedly apologized to the public for the scandal. She has even offered to
 share power with a prime minister to be appointed by the opposition-dominated
Parliament, but her efforts to help ease the crisis have failed.
Choi Soon-sil has been arrested on the charges of using her ties to Park Geun-hye
to force businesses into donating $69 million to the two foundations that she controlled.
She is also the daughter of a cult leader who became Park Geun-hyes mentor in the
1970s. The president has only admitted to letting Choi Soon-sil, a person who has no
governmental background, revise her speeches. Two other former aides have been
charged with helping Choi Soon-sil intervene in state affairs from behind the scenes. Park
Geun-hye has promised to sever her ties with Choi Soon-sil and has agreed to be
questioned by prosecutors. The main opposition party has not called for the presidents
resignation, even though many of its leaders joined the rally that took place on Saturday.
The opposition party wants to her to distance herself from key policy decisions and
reduce her position to that of a figurehead.

Your Opinion of the Event (at least 3 sentences).

I feel like the publics reaction to the presidents scandal has been appropriate. In
my opinion, the president acted in an extremely unprofessional way. She shouldnt have
been confiding government information to Choi Soon-sil. She wasnt a government
official, so there was no point in telling her that information. It is even more ridiculous
that Choi Soon-sil blackmailed companies with that information for her own benefit. As
for the protests themselves, it is amazing that so many people showed up to protest for
something like that. People from all demographics were protesting which is amazing to
me, since rallies usually only have protesters from a certain demographic.

Relate your Event to a Historical Event (compare and contrast with current event).

This event is similar to the Vietnam War protests that happened in the United
States around the 1960s. The protests started because many were against the United
States involvement in the Vietnam War. Many opposed the war due to the morality of it,
while others felt like there was no need for us to be fighting in a foreign war. These two
events are similar because the objectives for both protests were the same; to call for a
reform to a larger conflict. In South Koreas case, the protesters wanted for the president
to step down. During the Vietnam War, the protests were for the United States to
withdraw from the war in Vietnam. These protests are also similar because the president
of the country was heavily involved in both events. Richard M. Nixon delivered a speech
that addressed the protesters by laying out a plan in which he would end the war through
diplomatic negotiations. He also asked for the support from the protesters themselves,
calling them the silent majority. Park Geun-hye is also the center of attention for the
protests in South Korea, and ultimately she could end the protests if she steps down as
president. These two events were different because the specific reasons for the protests
werent the same. For South Korea, the protesters demanded for Park Geun-hye to step
down because she was unfit to be a president. For Vietnam, protesters wanted the United
States involvement in Vietnam to stop. The South Korean protests were because of
 corruption within the countrys government, while the Vietnam War protests dealt with
foreign affairs and war. These two events were also different because the protesters were
from different backgrounds. The South Korean protesters werent all the same since there
were people who were students, mothers, and the elderly. A diverse range of people
attended the rally in Seoul, while the people who protested the Vietnam War were mostly
college students who were not drafted in the war.

Relate your Event to the a Theme (at least 3 sentences). SEE BACK FOR THEMES

This event relates to the theme of political structures because it ties back to the
South Korean government. This event deals with political conflicts, since the Seoul
demonstrations are specifically anti-government. The protests have been a major problem
for Park Geun-hye and have interfered with her presidency, further supporting the topic
of political conflicts. With so many people demanding that she step down as president,
this scandal affects how she is viewed as a president and a politician. If she does step
down, then South Korea will most likely have to find a new president and the political
power will change.

Questions You Have About the Event (4).

- How were the South Korean protesters able to draw such large crowds?
- If Choi Soon-sil was not the daughter of a cult leader, would the extremity of Park
Geun-hyes backlash have been different?
- Does South Koreas process for impeachment work the same way as ours?
- What has been the largest protest in the world over a political leader?