Devotion to Impeached Leader Splits South Korea Conservatives
These groups have organized increasingly large rallies in central Seoul in recent weeks, calling any conservative politician who turns against Ms. Park a "betrayer." Their rallies attract not only Park loyalists but also older Koreans who share, if not their loyalty to Ms. Park, their belief
that the country’s progressive opposition is too sympathetic toward North Korea to be trusted.
(The group recently helped pay for a large newspaper advertisement
that said: "Please don’t cry, Park Geun-hye!") But its Red-baiting campaign, a traditional vote-gathering tool for South Korean conservatives, has intensified as the country’s Constitutional Court prepares to rule on whether to reinstate Ms. Park or formally end her presidency.
But according to flag-waving, military uniform-clad conservatives at the rallies, Ms. Park was an innocent victim of a "sedition" masterminded by politically biased prosecutors, a "fake-news media"
and "Communists." Their rallies feature military parade songs and chants for Ms. Park to "mobilize the military" to regain power, an echo of how her father, the dictator Park Chung-hee, took power in a military coup in 1961.
that The South Korean conservatives face a crisis they had never experienced before,
Many conservatives, including some Liberty Korea lawmakers, want to distance themselves from Ms. Park
and regroup around a new leader to have a fighting chance against the progressive opposition leader Moon Jae-in in the election.
to kill Commies!" "They want to overthrow the government
and establish a pro-North Korean regime," Kim Chul-hong, a theology professor and vocal supporter of Ms. Park, said of the opposition during a news conference this month.
But Ms. Park still commands an almost cultlike following among people like Mr. Chung, and
that lingering devotion is fragmenting the country’s conservative bloc as it struggles to find a viable replacement candidate in an election that could take place as early as May.