Ousted president returns to home, shows defiance
SEOUL — Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye expressed defiance toward the corruption allegations against her as she vacated the presidential palace and returned to her home Sunday, two days after the Constitutional Court removed her from office.
In her first public comments since the court’s ruling, Park said in statement, “Although it will take time, I believe the truth will certainly come out.”
Park will probably face a direct investigation soon by prosecutors who already consider her a criminal suspect over suspicions that she colluded with a confidante to extort money and favors from companies and allowed the friend to secretly interfere with state affairs.
Upon her return home, Park was greeted by hundreds of supporters who thunderously chanted her name and waved the South Korean flag as her bodyguardflanked black sedan arrived. Park smiled and waved from inside the car. She then stepped out and shook hands and exchanged brief words with members of her political party before going inside the house.
In her statement, Park also expressed gratitude to her supporters and apologized for “failing to fulfill my duty as president.”
Before Sunday, she had apologized for putting trust in her jailed friend, Choi Soon-sil, but denied any wrongdoing.
Youn Kwansuk, the spokesman for the liberal Democratic Party, the largest in parliament, called Park’s statement “shocking” because she did not express remorse.
“Former President Park will now be investigated by prosecutors as a civilian and as a criminal suspect,” Youn said in a statement. “So it’s very regrettable that former President Park decided to waste her last opportunity to come before the nation and show responsibility.”
The Constitutional Court formally removed her from office Friday, upholding an impeachment motion filed by lawmakers in December that followed weeks of huge protests by millions of people calling for her ouster.
The ruling ended a power struggle that had consumed the nation for months and marked a stunning downfall for Park, who convincingly defeated her liberal opponent in 2012 with overwhelming support from older South Koreans, who remembered her dictator father as a hero.
Her departure from the presidential Blue House on Sunday evening came a day after tens of thousands of opponents and supporters divided the streets of downtown Seoul with major rallies, reflecting a nation deeply split over its future.
South Korea now has to elect a new president by early May. Opinion polls show the Democratic Party’s Moon Jaein, who lost to Park in 2012, as the favorite.