The "impeachment effect" began to emerge three days after the opposition-controlled National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (ROK) unprecedentedly ousted President Roh Moo-hyun last Friday. 

The two main opposition parties, the Grand National Party (GNP) and the Millennium Democratic People (MDP), who clapped and laughed after the impeachment bill was approved, now began to frown.

Meanwhile, the pro-government or pro-Roh Uri Party, who lost their temper and cried after the unicameral parliament approved the bill despite of their "physical" endeavor, now saw some kind of bright future.

The GNP and the MDP hold 207 of the total 272 seats in the National Assembly.

The impeachment has changed the landscape of the political campaigning before the April 15 parliament general election and intensified the division of voters.

The MDP wanted to use some faults of the president to retaliate Roh himself and to hit the Uri Party before the parliament election. So the party, founded by former ROK President Kim Dae-jung, put forward the impeachment motion and gained cooperation from the GNP.

Roh represented the MDP in the 2002 presidential election and eventually won the race. The 57-year old president quit the MDP eight months after he took office in February 2003, and the MDP lost the ruling party status.

Angered by Roh's praise of the Uri Party, which was established by reformist lawmakers split from the MDP, the MDP adopted the anti-Roh stance in the parliament.

But now the situation has developed in favor of the Uri Party as local people cannot understand why the president must be impeachment only for several improper comments.

Tens of thousands of local people held candlelight vigil every night since last Friday to express their anger and astoundment over the impeachment.

ROK people extended their sympathy for the reform-minded Roh Moo-hyun to the Uri Party, sharply raising the supporting rate for the pro-government party by more than 10 percent to 36 percent.

Meanwhile, the GNP and MDP's supporting rates lost ground among voters. Their rates sharply declined from 19.5 percent to 14 percent for the GNP and from 9.3 percent to only 5 percent for the MDP.

Even some faction occurred in the opposition parties. Some lawmakers of the MDP who did not endorse the impeachment motion demanded their Chairman Chough Soon-hyung to resign to take responsibility for the downward popularity just 30-days ahead of the parliament election. Similar demand also appeared in the GNP.

But some analysts pointed out that before the impeachment, Roh's supporting rate plunged to only 20 percent rate. Those demonstrators who took to the streets may not support Roh and the Uri Party, they only expressed their anger.

The Uri Party wanted to extend the favorable situation until April. It ordered its members to refrain from making remarks over the drawing election and joining rallies against the impeachment.

The opposition parties also fixed strategy not to celebrate the impeachment but to focus on how to support the Acting President Goh Kun's work to stabilize society. They hoped to re-win hearts of voters.

It is impossible to forecast the result of the parliament general election under the current situation, but one thing is clear: the ROK society has polarized by conservatives and progressives, pointed out analysts.

The older generation represented by the GNP and MDP and the younger generation represented by Roh Moo-hyun and Uri Party now are engaged in a race and carefully approaching the April election.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2004)