美国国家公共电台 NPR S. Korean President Named As A Criminal Suspect In Cronyism Scandal

S. Korean President Named As A Criminal Suspect In Cronyism¹ Scandal

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A cronyism scandal surrounding South Korea's president is still gripping that country. Prosecutors⁴ announced over the weekend that the president is now a suspect in a criminal fraud investigation⁵. And NPR's Elise Hu reports that that is new precedent⁶ for a sitting president.

ELISE HU, BYLINE⁷: For the fourth weekend in a row, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans crowded the streets of central Seoul with a simple demand. Step down, they chanted in the direction of the presidential residence. But President Park Geun-hye, by all indications, isn't going anywhere on her own.

DAVID KANG: I think Park clearly thinks that she can ride it out.

HU: David Kang heads the Korea Studies Institute at the University of Southern California. He says she'll try to hang on since she has immunity⁸ from prosecution⁹ while she's in office. But the corruption¹⁰ scandal has driven her approval rating to 5 percent, the lowest in Korean presidential history.

KANG: And we'll see whether she can actually survive another 12 months or so.

HU: In a packed press conference Sunday, prosecutors raised the stakes. They named Park as a suspect in a criminal investigation, a first for a sitting president. Prosecutors believe Park was a co-conspirator in a scheme that allowed a close friend to enrich herself by using the power of the presidency¹¹ to pressure South Korean companies to pony¹² up millions in so-called donations.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LEE YOUNG-RYEOL: (Speaking Korean).

HU: "Based on the evidence," said chief prosecutor³ Lee Young-ryeol, "the special investigation team concluded that the president colluded for most parts of her confidant's crimes." Park's spokesman in a statement denied the allegations and called them, quote, "unfair political attacks." But David Kang says the president has few allies left.

KANG: It's not clear even who her supporters would be within the party itself. So this is a totally unprecedented¹³ situation in Korean politics, which is used to chaos¹⁴.

HU: Even so, lawmakers here haven't started impeachment¹⁵ proceedings¹⁶ against Park, who only has a year left in her term.

KANG: If she leaves - power vacuum. If she stays - power vacuum. It's not clear, no matter what happens, whether we can fix that in the near future.

HU: Part of the problem - impeachment proceedings might take the same amount of time as she has left in office. Elise Hu, NPR News, Seoul.

1 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

9 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

12 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

13 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

14 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

15 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

16 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼