Tables Turn Against S. Korean Pres. Park as Reputable Catholic Priests Demand Her Resignation
Yesterday | Posted by: roboblogger | Full story: CNN
On Friday, November 22, 2013 a special mass was held in Gunsan South Korea, a city located in the southwest province, by the Jeonju diocese of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice .
On Friday, November 22, 2013 a special mass was held in Gunsan, South Korea, a city located in the southwest province, by the Jeonju diocese of the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice (CPAJ). Approximately 400 priests and Catholics participated in the mass. They demanded the resignation of President Park Geun-hye stating that the legitimacy of her presidency was severely damaged by having been elected through a fraudulent election. It was the first time since last December’s election that the resignation of Park Geun-hye was called for publicly by any South Korean organization. Sources believe that this is only the beginning of organized support against President Park. Soon other religious and activist groups will also publicly call for her resignation.
Evidence has mounted since the election proving that state agencies such as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the army Cyber Warfare Command had interfered in the election to bring the candidate of the ruling party, Park Geun-hye, to victory. Despite substantial evidence against Park the opposition party leaders and citizen groups have so far only demanded a thorough investigation and an apology from the President. Park has been denying any association with the alleged crimes or to have received any benefit from the illegal election campaigning preformed in her favor.
The Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice was established in 1974 to fight against the dictatorship led by Park Chung-hee, the father of the current president. The priests in this group have played a major role for the past 40 years of South Korean history fighting for human rights, democracy, and freedom of speech. Many priests have been physically assualted, imprisoned, and tortured for supporting just causes.
Immediately upon the demand of the resignation of President Park by the CPAJ extreme right-wing conservatives and even the Blue House (Park’s office) made statements where they accused the priests of interfering in politics inappropriately and accused them of being North Korean sympathizers. This political strategy by Park’s administration was expected as any well known public figure who has spoken out against the election fraud has been branded as a North Korean sympathizer. Activists, religious leaders, poets, scholars, writers, and anyone with a platform to spread the truth have been attacked by Park’s administration and the major media outlets (which are all controlled by Park as well).
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The photograph is from the Hankyoreh.
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