Political satire in vogue after Choi scandal

Artist Hwang Hyo-chang's "Is This a Nation?" describes President Park Geun-hye as a puppet controlled by Choi Soon-sil. The painting questions if President Park has the appropriate managerial skills to lead a nation and is fit for the top job of the government. / Courtesy of the artist

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Two-time presidential candidate Huh Kyoung-young, 69, rose to online stardom earlier this week, for "his supernatural ability to foresee the future" of the Park Geun-hye government four years ago.

During an interview with social network news service WIKITREE on Dec. 27, 2012, Huh said the five-year tenure of the then newly elected President Park would be cut short in the face of mounting public calls to resign.

"I think Park won't be able to stay in office for her entire tenure," he said. According to him, Park would face an unspecified outstanding problem which is so grave that the people would stand up against her and candlelit protests calling for her resignation would continue until she stepped down. She would be forced to leave office with time remaining in her tenure, he said.

The video clip of his interview spread fast online, making him the online star of the day. Huh became one of the top five most-searched people on the nation's largest internet portal Naver on Monday.

Some social media users called him "Huh-Stradamus" or Korea's Nostradamus, named after the 16th century French physician and prophet.

Huh's newly earned nickname is meant to lambast President Park, rather than praise Huh for his supernatural abilities. What Huh said four years ago was such a low-probable scenario for Korea, considering that before Park there were no presidents who resigned before their tenure ended since the country became a full-fledged democracy in the late 1980s.

Photo artist Cho Mun-ho's "Desperate Outcry" shows mime artist Yoo Jin-kyu holding flowers to pay his tribute to the victims of the ferry Sewol. / Courtesy of the artist

Before the Choi Soon-sil scandal, Huh was depicted as a politician who let out a slew of unrealistic campaign pledges during the 1997 and 2007 presidential elections. Among others, he said if elected, he would give each bride and groom 50 million won ($45,000) on their wedding day with an additional payout of 30 million won when they have babies. His populist, unfeasible policy promises and abrupt career change from politician to singer made him a subject of political mockery.

Huh's doomsayer-like remarks, however, became a reality anyway because of President Park's incompetence. The Choi Soon-sil scandal shows Park couldn't make her own decisions about any state affairs without prior consultation with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, who had no official credentials to give professional advice on any policy areas.

Huh's new nickname indicates the public's low expectations of the sitting president for her poor managerial skills that were revealed after the Choi scandal rocked the nation.

Political mockery and satirical works have gone popular. The Huh-Stradamus phenomenon is an indicator of the Korean public being sick and tired of the President.

Huh Kyoung-young rose to online stardom this week, for "his supernatural ability to foresee the future" of the Park Geun-hye government four years ago.

Kim Sang-kyum, a Dongkuk University professor, said the rise of political mockery or satirical works by artists as well as the general public could be associated with democratic progress.

"In the past, people were relatively politically inactive and considered themselves bystanders when it came to state affairs, so they let their representatives in the National Assembly handle them," he said. "They've begun to be active politically and voice their ideas and views about certain issues now when the concept of participatory democracy is in vogue."

Kim said social media also played a part in the popularity of political satire. "People post their own ideas freely about politics or other topics and their desire to express their own political views online might have had some impact on the surge of political satire," he said.

A six-day exhibition, titled "Exhibition Soon-sil," featuring art works of political mockery of Choi and her devastating friendship with President Park Geun-hye, was a success amid the major corruption scandal.

Sixteen politically active artists, including painters, two installation artists and a photo artist, joined hands to showcase their satirical projects at the Chuncheon Art Hall in the northeastern province of Gangwon from Nov. 30 until Dec. 5.

Some 200 art works were displayed during the event. Art critic Choe Hyung-soon, who initiated the exhibition, said it drew more visitors than previous events hosted by politically active artists.

Kwon Yong-taek's painting, titled "A Lit Candle Becomes Nationwide Fire," describes the candlelit rallies fueled by angry citizens that have spread across the entire nation. It shows the public anger becoming uncontrollable. The artist describes the sinking of the ferry Sewol by presenting the underwater world which caused the candlelit rallies followed by a nation on fire. / Courtesy of the artist

"Like other ordinary people, artists are supposed to be politically active and express their ideas," he said. "I think the exhibition was successful because we, artists, were able to narrow the perception gap between artists and ordinary citizens."

Choe said he and his fellow artists had only eight days to prepare for the showcase because their decision came late, and he was pleased because all the artists were able to present their works successfully.

Hwang Jae-hyung, who is called a miner painter for his previous career, is one of the 16 artists who joined the exhibition. One of his works presented there was "Business Oligarch: Hens, the Sewol Victims" which shows white hens falling from atop a chicken coup while others are stuck in it. The painting indicates the passengers of the ferry Sewol who were killed after the ship sank in waters off the southwestern port city of Jindo on April 16, 2014.

Another politically active artist Hong Sung-dam's hanging painting of "Sewol, Owol," which was pulled from the 2014 Gwangju Biennale for a satirical caricature of President Park, drew fresh attention following the Choi scandal.

In the 10.5-meter by 2.5-meter canvas, President Park is depicted as a puppet controlled by her dead father — the late President Park Chung-hee — and Kim Ki-choon, who served as presidential chief of staff from August 2013 to February 2015. The democracy fighter-turned-painter used the Gwangju Uprising of May 18, 1980, and the maritime disaster that took place over three decades later as background for the painting. In it, the participants of the democracy protests and concerned citizens teamed up to successfully salvage the ferry and save the lives of its passengers.

His work regained public attention after the late senior presidential secretary Kim Young-han's notebook which is filled with notes he took during his days in the presidential office was made public. Hong's name was mentioned several times in there as then presidential chief of staff Kim directed presidential secretaries to take necessary measures to discredit the artist for the painting that mocked him and the President.