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Park Geun-hye is doomed to be another failed South Korean president ― possibly the worst one ever.
As a key suspect in the nation's biggest corruption scandal in modern history, Park has become the first sitting president investigated for alleged wrongdoings committed while in office. Although she will not be prosecuted as long as she remains in power, thanks to presidential immunity, it is not hard to imagine how tragic her life will be after leaving Cheong Wa Dae.
She may be the most unpopular leader of any nation in the world today. Her approval ratings, which had hovered between 30 and 40 percent until the scandal erupted late October, have since plunged all the way to 4 percent ― the lowest popularity rating ever for an incumbent president of South Korea. This virtually means that the people no longer have confidence in her ability and competence as the head of state except for just a small number of diehard followers who would support her regardless of what she does.
At first, people were frustrated with the fact that she let her friend Choi Soon-sil ― who had no official position ― to domineer over the country's administrative systems in a lion's skin and extort money from private firms. However, what made them angrier was the way Park has actually reacted to the scandal and her attitude toward angry people.
In my opinion, Park's three national addresses concerning the scandal were full of excuses and political tricks, giving the impression that she did not really understand what she did wrong and why people want her out. In her latest speech, Tuesday, Park said she has never pursued her own interests since she entered politics in 1998 although she did make some crucial mistakes in "managing" people.
Park dumbfounded us yet again by asking political parties to decide on when she should step down, playing a cat-and-mouse game with parliament over her fate without responding to calls for her voluntary and immediate resignation.
She looked indifferent to the current chaotic situation caused by the scandal and public feelings about all the misconduct committed by Choi and her aides.
In the two previous speeches, she lied about her relationship with Choi and the nature of the 77.4 billion won ($66.2 million) forcefully collected from private companies, finding fault with the media for producing "groundless" reports.
Park even used crucial national issues to ride out her political crisis.
She once proposed talks on revising the Constitution and even reportedly ordered a quick signing of a military intelligence-sharing deal with Japan despite overwhelming public opposition in what appeared to be attempts to divert public attention from the scandal.
But all these efforts failed.
One other reason why she has to quit now is that she has become the nation's global shame. One common voice from anti-Park protesters here and abroad is that it is extremely humiliating to have such a brazen, incompetent person to represent the country. With all the disgraceful international media reports about her, she has become a national icon in a bad way.
Truly, her existence itself is now greatly damaging the nation's reputation and eroding the credibility of South Korean leadership among governments around the world. The uncertainty over her presidency, if it continues for much longer, will certainly take a toll on South Korea's global projects not to mention business opportunities for Korean companies internationally.
So, Park should stop crying wolf and trying to resort to trickster politics to turn things around to her benefit because people no longer trust her. She should have the courage to give up like Richard Nixon. Only she can decide her own fate.
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