The Saturday demonstrations in Korea have not ended with the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, but rather have shifted their focus to the THAAD missile defense system which has been rushed through without proper approval during the period of the impeachment.
THAAD is a more difficult problem to resolve than is impeachment and the situation will not get easier if the Trump administration insists on these constant military drills and weapons testings and refuses any diplomatic interaction with North Korea. As I suggested in my previous article, the hard part comes after impeachment. I do hope the Koreans can remain level headed and keep their eyes on their long-term interests. Unfortunately, Koreans tend to be so emotional that they can only disagree, only say “no” when they are swept up in anger. Unlike the Japanese who are better able to say “no” while appearing to say “yes.” Take the example of Koizumi Junichiro’s visit to George W. Bush’s ranch in Texas and the tremendous pro-Bush love fest right before Japan pulled out of Iraq.
Here are a few photographs from today’s protests.
