By Hong Dam-young
Korean students at Harvard University in Boston held a protest rally to denounce President Park Geun-hye for not taking responsibility of the political scandal with her confidant Choi Soon-sil.
A small group of Koreans from the Harvard College Korean International Students' Association read a statement in front of the Widener Library on the campus Friday morning, holding national flags. The statement they read in Korean and English said: "At home or abroad, the Republic of Korea has always been, and always will be our country. "Choi Soon-sil gate has left us unable to hold our heads high. Finding ourselves having to explain the situation to our incredulous peers, we came to the realization that we must step up to our obligation as adherers of the democratic ideal." The group said President Park posed a major threat to Korea's democracy, and the incident was by no means isolated. "She befooled the public, disregarding the popular will," the statement said. "Even during her public apology, she refused to take any questions and attempted to play down the accusations. "Hence, we condemn President Park for her failed leadership." The protesters said they hoped their rally would bring other Korean students in the U.S. together in protest. The Korean community at Stanford University is planning to protest early next week, a group of Korean students from the University of California, Berkeley ― who staged the first protest in the U.S. on Tuesday ― told The Korea Times. Other universities including New York University and the University of California, Davis, were preparing rallies as well, as were Koreans from the University of Toronto in Canada. |
