As the plane taxied to the runway in Busan, South Korea the other day, flight attendants were agitated over smartphones. Not exploding Samsungs, but my fellow passengers refusing to turn off their devices. The cause of the collective roguery: Park Geun-hye addressing a scandal that could end her presidency.
Park's apology came as tens of thousands of protesters demanded she resign over bizarre revelations about Rasputin-like friend, Choi Soon-sil. Allegations include Choi shaking down corporate giants for tens of millions of dollars, running a slush fund, having access to confidential (and perhaps classified) information, meddling in state affairs and using her Park connections to cajole Ewha Womans University to admit her daughter.
A dustup that dwarfs Hillary Clinton's email mess has Park's approval numbers at all-time lows. Calls for her resignation or impeachment are already at a fever pitch amid a controversy that may cost Koreans their first female president. The real cost, though, will be to the nation's flagging economy and the Kospi stock index.