South Korea Part 1: The Impeachment of Park Geun-hye | 109

Summary

Podcast Summary: Down to Business English – Ep. 109

Title: South Korea Part 1: The Impeachment of Park Geun-hye
Hosts: Skip Montreux & Des Morgan
Release Date: May 2, 2017

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Overview

This episode launches a two-part special on South Korea, focusing on the dramatic impeachment of President Park Geun-hye and its deep implications for Korean business and society. Skip Montreux leads a narrative-rich exploration into how political corruption, personal relationships, and business collusion brought down a sitting president, with Des Morgan providing commentary and clarifying questions along the way. The episode is interspersed with vocabulary explanations to aid business English learners.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Turbulence in the Koreas

• [01:08] Skip highlights significant events on the Korean Peninsula, referencing North Korean intrigue (the assassination of Kim Jong Nam) before pivoting to South Korea’s turmoil—stressing its business-world relevance.
• [02:16] Main topics flagged: President Park’s impeachment for bribery involving major conglomerates, and the collapse of Hanjin Shipping (the latter to be covered in the next episode).

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2. Background on Park Geun-hye

• [03:35] First female president of South Korea; daughter of a former president with tragic family history (both parents assassinated).
• [03:43] While her history is interesting, Skip steers the discussion to the current scandal.

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3. The Scandal—A Tale That Begins with a Puppy

How It Started

• [04:09] Skip introduces the unlikely starting point—a business relationship between fashion entrepreneur Mr. Ko and Choi Soon Sil, a close confidante of Park.
• [05:21] Mr. Ko's initial business success stemmed from supplying goods to people close to the president. Their relationship deepened, with Ko gaining favor and business opportunities thanks to Choi’s connections.

The Puppy Incident

• [06:08] The turning point: Choi asks Ko to care for her daughter’s puppy; Ko neglects the puppy, leading to a major fallout.
• [06:30] This spat motivates Ko to gather evidence of Choi’s improper influence over Park.

Whistleblowing & Media Frenzy

• [06:49] Ko collects and leaks information showing Choi’s undue access to confidential presidential materials, eventually sparking a media storm.
• [07:22] A tablet device containing Choi's edits of Park's speeches further links her to the president's official conduct.

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4. Business Corruption and the Fall of Park

The Corporate Connection

• [07:57] The scandal broadens with revelations of Samsung’s involvement. Samsung chief Lee Jae Yong is accused of donating to a Choi-controlled charity in exchange for governmental support for corporate restructuring.
• [08:36] The sums involved are enormous; e.g., Samsung allegedly gave $36 million.

Impact on Other Conglomerates

• [08:41] Lotte, another corporate giant, is also under scrutiny for similar bribery schemes.

Legal Fallout

• [09:02] President Park is impeached and detained, awaiting likely formal charges.
• [09:28] Choi is in court. Lee Jae Yong (Samsung) is indicted. Mr. Ko becomes a celebrated whistleblower.
• [09:53] Des presses for closure on the ‘fourth character’—the puppy—but its fate remains unknown.

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5. Vocabulary Highlights

(Business English Focus)

• Ripple effect (Skip, [10:45]): "A ripple effect is the slow spreading of influence made by one single action in the story. I say the ripple effects of this case are so wide and that it is difficult to know where to start."
• To take a shine to (Des, [11:51]): "Ms. Choi took an immediate shine to the handsome Mr. Ko."
• Meticulously (Skip, [12:59]): "Mr. Ko meticulously gathered information that he could use against Ms. Choi at a later date."
• Impeach (Des, [13:49]): "To be impeached means a public official has been found guilty of some misconduct or indiscretion or and is removed from office."
• Indicted (Skip, [14:45]): "If someone has been indicted, it means a formal charge of law breaking has been brought against this person..."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The ripple effects from this case are so wide that it is difficult to know where to start.” – Skip Montreux ([03:08])
• “This story all really begins with a puppy.” – Skip Montreux ([04:09])
• “He sure did. Mr. Ko meticulously collected evidence showing that Ms. Choi had an unhealthy influence over her confidant, President Park.” – Skip Montreux ([06:49])
• “Samsung is now under investigation, and its chief, Lee Jae Yong, is on trial for corruption. He is being accused of giving money to a charity operated by Ms. Choi in exchange for Ms. Park granting government favors.” – Skip Montreux ([07:57])
• “And what's happened to the main characters in the story?” – Des Morgan ([09:02])
• “Mr. Ko, because he broke the story, is now seen as something of a folk hero by the public, a champion of justice.” – Skip Montreux ([09:50])

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Important Timestamps

• 01:08 – Political instability in Korea: North vs. South news
• 02:16 – Preview of the episode’s two major topics: impeachment & Hanjin collapse
• 03:35 – Background on Park Geun-hye
• 04:09 – Scandal starts: the puppy story
• 06:49 – Ko leaks evidence, media investigation ignites
• 07:57 – Connection to Samsung and corporate bribery
• 09:02 – Legal consequences for Park, Choi, Lee, and Ko
• 10:45-15:25 – Business vocabulary breakdown and examples

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Episode Tone & Style

• Conversational, wry, and slightly playful.
  • Des and Skip banter about the odd puppy origin of the scandal and make tongue-in-cheek remarks about each other's tech preferences and the fate of the puppy.
• Focused on clarity for English learners, offering simple explanations and reinforcing key business/political vocabulary.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• The Park Geun-hye scandal is a multi-layered crisis exposing the tight interweaving of politics and corporate power in South Korea.
• Personal relationships can have vast, unpredictable ripple effects on national and business affairs.
• Major global companies like Samsung can find themselves at the heart of political scandals, with potential international business repercussions.
• Business English learners gain insights into key terms and how major media stories can illustrate vocabulary in action.

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Looking Ahead

• Next episode: The Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy and its global ramifications.
• Additional regular business stories and English learning content to follow.

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Transcript

[Narrator]

From Tokyo, Japan and Abu Dhabi, uae, this is down to Business English. Business News to improve your Business English with your hosts, Skip Montreux and Des Morgan.

[Skip Montreux]

Hello Des. And hello to everyone downloading us today.

[Des Morgan]

And a warm hello to you, Skip, and to all of our listeners.

[Skip Montreux]

I have to apologize to everyone for B2B's short hiatus. I take full responsibility. I just got sidetracked with some intensive business courses I was conducting here in Tokyo. But that is all behind me now and it is full steam ahead with down to Business English.

[Des Morgan]

Good to hear that, Skip.

[Skip Montreux]

And how are things with you, Des?

[Des Morgan]

With me, Not a lot going on. It's the middle of the semester, so nothing new at work.

[Skip Montreux]

And how about Abu Dhabi?

[Des Morgan]

Here in Abu Dhabi, things are fairly quiet too.

[Skip Montreux]

Well, over here, just across the water on the Korean Peninsula, there sure has been a lot going on.

[Des Morgan]

Really? Tell us about that.

[Skip Montreux]

Well, starting out with North Korea, there is the story of Kim Jong Nam, the older stepbrother of North Korea's young president Kim Jong Un, being publicly poisoned in an airport in Malaysia.

[Des Morgan]

Yeah, Kim Jong Un's older brother. I did read a bit about that. And the North Korean government is suspected of being behind the attack.

[Skip Montreux]

They most certainly are. Although the women who actually poisoned Kim Jong Nam were from Indonesia and Vietnam and they say they thought they were taking part in a harmless prank for a TV show. They didn't know they were assassinating anyone.

[Des Morgan]

A very curious case. However, a bit off our beat as we are a business news.

[Skip Montreux]

You are right. We could talk about North Korea all day, but not much would be about

[Des Morgan]

business and what's been happening in South Korea.

[Skip Montreux]

The two big stories there are the recent impeachment of the president Park Geun Hee for coercing bribes from some of South Korea's largest conglomerates. And the other story is the collapse of the Hanjin Shipping Company last summer.

[Des Morgan]

I've read quite a bit about the Hanjin story in it's big News when the world's seventh largest shipping company goes bankrupt.

[Skip Montreux]

And I'm pretty much up to date on the bribery and impeachment story involving South Korea's president.

[Des Morgan]

So listeners, what we're going to do is have a two part special focusing on South Korea. Skip will kick it off this time with the political story. And then next time I will report on the world of shipping part 2

[Skip Montreux]

later in the month or early next month.

[Des Morgan]

Yeah, that suits me.

[Skip Montreux]

So let's do it. Let's get D2B down to business with the story of Park Geun Hee's Fall from grace. What caused it, and how it is connected to the world of Korean business. The ripple effects from this case are so wide that it is difficult to know where to start.

[Des Morgan]

How about with a little background on Park Geun Hee? She's Korea's first woman president, isn't she?

[Skip Montreux]

That's correct. She comes from a very political family and is the daughter of one of Korea's former presidents. In fact, both her mother and father were assassinated in the 1970s. But as interesting as all that is, it doesn't have too much to do with this story. As I was saying, it is difficult to know where to start.

[Des Morgan]

Why not start at the beginning then?

[Skip Montreux]

You are being so helpful, Des. Okay. This story all really begins with a puppy.

[Des Morgan]

A what?

[Skip Montreux]

A puppy. A small baby dog.

[Des Morgan]

Yeah. I thought that was what you said.

[Skip Montreux]

Strap yourself in, Des, as this is gonna be a long one.

[Des Morgan]

Okay. Consider me strapped in.

[Skip Montreux]

The story all began in 2012 when Ko Young Thai, a retired gold medal fencer, was running a ladies clothing and accessories company in Seoul. Mr. Ko received a mysterious message that he was to prepare several bags and outfits for an unnamed high net worth customer.

[Des Morgan]

And she had a puppy?

[Skip Montreux]

No. Dazzling. The mystery customer was a 60 year old lady called Choi Soon Sil, who was closely involved with the President of South Korea, Ms. Park Geun Hee. When they met, Ms. Choi, it seems, took a shine to the handsome Mr. Ko and bought all of the products that he showed her.

[Des Morgan]

So far, so good. But still no signs of the puppy though.

[Skip Montreux]

Patience does. Ms. Choi and Mr. Ko developed a closer friendship, with Mr. Ko supplying expensive bags and dresses to her that ended up being worn by President Park. Ms. Choi even went as far as appointing Mr. Ko to the board of several companies that she owned.

[Des Morgan]

Ah. He became her toy boy then.

[Skip Montreux]

Toy boy? You mean a much younger lover? Well, that has never been proven and both parties strongly deny it, so who knows? Anyway, Mr. Ko and his clothing company did very well because of the connection with President Park. Until 2014. That is when Ms. Choi asked him to take care of her daughter's puppy.

[Des Morgan]

Finally, the puppy.

[Skip Montreux]

Instead of taking care of the puppy, Mr. Ko left it at his apartment and went out to play golf.

[Des Morgan]

Ah, poor puppy.

[Skip Montreux]

That was what Ms. Choi thought when she checked in to see how her beloved puppy was doing and found that it was all alone at Mr. Co's apartment.

[Des Morgan]

Okay, and how did she discover that? Did the puppy open the door?

[Skip Montreux]

I'm not very clear on that. Maybe she had a key. But in any event, a huge fight ensued between her and Mr. Coe. And he was left very hurt and vowed revenge.

[Des Morgan]

Oh, and did he get revenge?

[Skip Montreux]

He sure did. Mr. Ko meticulously collected evidence showing that Ms. Choi had an unhealthy influence over her confidant, President Park. He then released information to the press that Ms. Choi had access to confidential information and treated the President's staff like her personal servants. However, it was Ms. Choi's contributions to President Park's speeches, and that really got the media's interest.

[Des Morgan]

Oh, the smoking gun.

[Skip Montreux]

Not quite a smoking gun, but the press started to dig into the relationship between park and Choi and uncovered a tablet device that contained selfies of Ms. Choi, as well as her edits of President Park's speeches.

[Des Morgan]

That doesn't sound that bad.

[Skip Montreux]

Well, President park did give Ms. Choi access to confidential information, but it was the other stuff that press agencies uncovered that was the main problem for Ms. Park and her presidency.

[Des Morgan]

And this is where the bribery and corruption comes in?

[Skip Montreux]

It sure is. And it is also where Samsung comes into the picture. Samsung is now under investigation, and its chief, Lee Jae Yong, is on trial for corruption. He is being accused of giving money to a charity operated by Ms. Choi in exchange for Ms. Park granting government favors.

[Des Morgan]

Oh, and what sort of favors?

[Skip Montreux]

It is alleged that Samsung needed to restructure its operation, but to do so, it needed the support of the National Pension Service to agree to the downsizing.

[Des Morgan]

And were these contributions large?

[Skip Montreux]

Yes, around $36 million.

[Des Morgan]

Oh, not pocket change then?

[Skip Montreux]

No, not at all. And on top of Samsung Lotte, another huge Korean conglomerate, is under investigation for corruption involving giving money to Choi in exchange for political favors from Park.

[Des Morgan]

So Samsung's in court, and what's happened to the main characters in the story?

[Skip Montreux]

Well, let's start at the top. Ms. Park was impeached by the government in law courts and was removed from office. And shortly after, she was arrested and is now currently being detained by police. Although she hasn't been formally charged with anything, it is likely that she will be. If she goes to trial and is found guilty, she is facing many years in prison.

[Des Morgan]

Okay, that's one down.

[Skip Montreux]

Next is Ms. Choi. She is already in court facing bribery and corruption charges. As I mentioned earlier, Lee Jae Yong, the CEO and heir to the Samsung Empire, has been indicted and is currently at trial. And Mr. Ko, because he broke the story, is now seen as something of a folk hero by the public, a champion of justice.

[Des Morgan]

Hmm, that's three. But what about the fourth character?

[Skip Montreux]

Sorry? The fourth character.

[Des Morgan]

Whatever happened to the puppy?

[Skip Montreux]

I don't know, Des. But I do know that it is time for us to get onto vocabulary. Before you ask me about that puppy

[Des Morgan]

again, let's do it. Let's get D2V down to vocabulary.

[Narrator]

Down to Business English audio scripts are a great learning tool. Be sure to visit the D2B website and download your free audio script of Today's podcast, Downto BusinessEnglish.com that's www.downtobusinessenglish.com.

[Skip Montreux]

Let me get things started with the compound noun ripple effects. The best way to understand this is to imagine what happens when you drop a rock or a stone into a totally calm lake.

[Des Morgan]

Ah, you get small waves or ripples that radiate out in all directions from where you drop the rock.

[Skip Montreux]

Exactly. And when used idiomatically, a ripple effect is the slow spreading of influence made by one single action in the story. I say the ripple effects of this case are so wide and that it is difficult to know where to start. In other words, the influence of this one event is spreading and affecting many different areas of Korean society.

[Des Morgan]

Another recent event that is still having ripple effects today was the election of Donald Trump.

[Skip Montreux]

The election of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote. The ripple effects from both will be felt for years.

[Des Morgan]

True. Next up, I have another compound, but this time it's a verb to take a shine to something, which means to like someone or something at first meeting. In the story, Skip points out that Ms. Choi took an immediate shine to the handsome Mr. Ko.

[Skip Montreux]

In other words, she liked him the very first time she met him.

[Des Morgan]

Precisely.

[Skip Montreux]

I can say that I have not taken a shine to the iPhone 7. I guess I will probably get one eventually, but the wireless headphones and the shape just don't enthuse me like earlier generations of the iPhone.

[Des Morgan]

Oh, everything has to come to an end, Skip. Even your love for Apple products. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here buddy.

[Skip Montreux]

Thank you, Des. I have studied the specifications of the iPhone 7 but just cannot get excited about it.

[Des Morgan]

Poor Skip.

[Skip Montreux]

No worries, I will get over it. Moving on, let's now look at the adverb meticulously. Meticulously means to check something in great detail or be very thorough in your action. In the story, I say that Mr. Ko meticulously gathered information that he could use against Ms. Choi at a later date. In other words, he very carefully and in great detail collected data on her.

[Des Morgan]

Oh, he must have been very angry. A more positive use of meticulously would be how lawyers check contracts over and over to be sure that no eventuality or legal scenario has been overlooked.

[Skip Montreux]

Not a job that I would enjoy.

[Des Morgan]

Oh, me neither. Our next word today is the political verb impeach, or in its passive form as it's used in the story, to be impeached. This means a public official has been found guilty of some misconduct or indiscretion or and is removed from office.

[Skip Montreux]

In this story, I report that President park was impeached. In other words, removed from office. Interestingly, the activity doesn't necessarily have to be illegal for the individual to be impeached.

[Des Morgan]

President Clinton was actually impeached over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. I mean, as you know, there's no law against having an affair. But it was not telling the truth in Congress. That was what people really objected to. And so they were forced to impeach him.

[Skip Montreux]

Our final word today is the passive verb to be indicted. This word, unlike impeach, certainly does contain the suspicion of breaking the law. If someone has been indicted, it means a formal charge of law breaking has been brought against this person, but by the government lawyers. In the story, I mentioned that Lee Jae Yong had been indicted for bribery.

[Des Morgan]

Francois Filon, one of the candidates in this year's French election, has been indicted for corruption, paying his wife and daughter salaries for jobs they didn't actually do.

[Skip Montreux]

All of this political corruption is quite disheartening, Des.

[Des Morgan]

Ah, I don't know about that. It gives us here at D2B a lot of stories to report on, Skip.

[Skip Montreux]

I suppose that is one way of looking at it.

[Narrator]

Would you like to support down to Business English? Be sure to visit the D2B page in iTunes and subscribe to the show. While you are there, why don't you leave a rating and a comment? This will help D2B reach more people wanting to improve their business English skills. Down to Business English. Business news to improve your business English.

[Des Morgan]

Well, thanks for that report, Skip.

[Skip Montreux]

You are most welcome. I hope our listeners enjoyed it. And the vocabulary.

[Des Morgan]

I hope so too. Remember that this was part one of our two part Korean series. We'll be back with part two on the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy in a few weeks from now. But you and Samantha will be releasing a story before then, won't you?

[Skip Montreux]

Yes, that is right. Once again, everyone, I do apologize for D2B's short hiatus. As I said, completely my fault. But rest assured, D2B is back in business.

[Des Morgan]

D2B back in business. That has a nice ring to it.

[Skip Montreux]

Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time.

[Des Morgan]

Bye bye.

[Narrator]

Have a comment or question about today's show? Don't be shy. Visit the D2B website or the Facebook page and post any comments or questions there. Skipdes awesome out there will be shown to Leave a Reply Want to get even more down to Business English? Sign up for the D2B Newsletter and receive updates on some of the stories covered on down to business English. That's www.downtobusinessenglish.com down to business English Business News to improve your business English Sam.