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"Shocked...Confused...How Did We End up Here…?"

Posted March. 12, 2004 23:51,   

한국어

“I can’t even speak, I feel so suffocated. An unexpected result was actualized in the middle of the battles between the leading and the oppositional parties,” said Song Ho-geun, professor of Social Studies at Seoul National University.

“The political circles should not misbehave in front of the people and should come to their senses soon to resolve the situation,” said Ko Gye-hyun, policy head of Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice.

Religious leaders, including Bopjang Sunim of the Jogye Order, released an announcement saying, “The current situation derived from the culture where dialogues and cooperation are lacking, “adding, “We should consider this event as an expensive cost for a change to create politics of co-existence and a new political culture.”

People around the Seoul Station and Express Bus Terminal in Gangnam watched the news in dismay as the impeachment bill was passed at the National Assembly.

“Right now, millions of university students are suffering from unemployment, and the politicians are busy fighting each other. That’s such a pathetic situation,” said Kim Jun-ho, a 27-year-old university student.

Park Youn-sik, a 43-year-old resident of Gwangju, said, “If President Roh apologized earlier, the current situation could have been avoided,” and added, “The national administration will float around from now, and the economy will worsen. I see no future in this prospect.”

Kim, a 45-year-old owner of a textile company in Daegu, commented, “The politicians from both the leading party and the opposition as well as President Roh are responsible for the current situation in which they have ignored the national matters through cooperation and dialogues.”

In particular, as the impeachment bill was passed around noon, most of the office workers were not able to leave their offices, and many delivery Chinese restaurants had good business today.

Netizens left notes of rage against the political circles’ actions and out of concern for the national administration.

The scholastic circles and NGOs are saying that the people should not be agitated by the impeachment and should respond quietly so that they can all work this out collectively.

Citizens United for Better Society Secretary General Cho Joong-geun said, “The national opinion should now gather up to fill up the administration vacancy, centering around Prime Minister Goh Kun,” and added, “In particular, we should minimize the national disorder while prompting the judges’ decision over the impeachment proceedings.”

Public Administration Professor Kim Seok-joon at Ewha Women’s University said, “The confusion over the presidential vacancy is inevitable now, but there should not be any administrative problems since we still have the prime minister and the Cabinet,” and emphasized, “The important thing is that people should remain calm.”

Major civil organizations with pro-Roh sentiments harshly criticized the passing of the bill and announced that they would not surrender to the impeachment decision.

Two hundred and twenty NGOs, including the People’s Alliance, Green Alliance, and Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, held an emergency meeting in front of the National Assembly building at 6 p.m.