Thousand of protesters called for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye [BBC profile] after it was revealed she allowed individuals to influence state affairs. The demonstration of thousands came after the President apologized [HurriyetDailyNews report] for allowing Choi Soon-sil, who is a daughter of a religious leader, to edit confidential speeches [NPR report] and receive funds even though she is not a political official. Choi Soon-sil is also under investigation for embezzling millions of dollars from non profits for personal uses. It is estimated that 30,000 individuals [Koreajoongang Daily report] came out to the protest to call for the resignation of the president and an end to corruption in the government. Many believe Choi and her family have exercised undue influence in the government causing the scandal to become more expansive [Korea Times report] than just the connections to the president. In response to the protesters demands, the President has reshuffled [Koreajoongang Daily report] the majority of her cabinet in the last week as many of them were close allies.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye proposed [JURIST report] on Monday to amend the country’s constitutional provision that restricts presidents to one term in office. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) [official website], South Korea’s antitrust regulator, confirmed [JURIST report] in August that the country is investigating whether Google violated the country’s antitrust laws. In Kyung-joon, a senior prosecutor in South Korea was indicted [in july on charges of bribery by accepting more than USD $11 million from an executive at the online-game company Nexon during collusive stock transactions over a nine-year period