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CIAO DATE: 06/04
A Republic—if South Koreans Can Keep It
On The Issues
March 2004
Nicholas Eberstadt
Abstract
With the impeachment of President Roh Mu Hyun on dubious grounds, South Korean democracy once again seems imperiled. Roh may be forced out, but the Constitutional Court may instead keep him in place, thereby leaving the public to decide whether to support a weak president or a corrupt national assembly.
"A republic#8212;if you can keep it." That was Benjamin Franklin's response to an inquiry, at the end of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, about the type of government the founders of the United States had just created. The remark is usually cited as an example of his renowned wit#8212;but Dr. Franklin's comment was deadly serious. He understood that the experiment in constitutional governance is a delicate thing, difficult to maintain and easy to destroy. So we are reminded once again today, as we observe the sad and tawdry constitutional crisis that has suddenly engulfed South Korea with the March 12 impeachment of President Roh Mu Hyun.
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