By Kang Hyun-kyung
Park Geun-hye made a rare appearance as a guest on a late-night TV talk show Monday, sharing candidly her stories as the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee and explaining her motives for entering the political arena in 1997.
It was the first time for Park to be on such a program.
Her appearance comes nearly two months after her speech at a university in Daejeon which drew media attention for her choice of clothing and the presentation style that resembled the late computer genius Steve Jobs.
At that time, Park wore a turtle neck under a jacket which was uncommon for her. She also used her hands a lot while communicating with the students.
Analysts say her decision to appear on TV and try to reach out to college students through campus speeches is to change her image as a more approachable and sociable politician.
The leader of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) has several nicknames, including “ice princess” and “notebook princess” referring to her habit of taking notes.
These indicate she is a politician who is not sociable and hardly engaging.
This image seems to be unhelpful in her bid to run in the presidential race, especially when her rival Ahn Cheol-soo’s popularity soared with support from his active engagement with young people.
Park joked around with the co-hosts of the SBS program, dubbed “Healing Camp,” and had frank conversations with them about who she was and how she felt about her rival Ahn Cheol-soo.
Park said Ahn, founder of the anti-virus software AhnLab, is popular because he is great at communicating with the younger generation.
Asked whether she was aware that her popularity among young people had fallen, Park answered she thought she was still popular.
Recent public opinion surveys have found that nearly 70 percent of people in their 20s said they would vote for Ahn, if he were to run for president.
The IT mogul, who is also dean of Seoul National University Graduate School of Technology and Convergence Science, has yet to declare his intention to enter the presidential race but sends signals that he is considering it seriously.
Polls currently show that Park, who had been a frontrunner among presidential hopefuls in surveys since 2008, is chasing Ahn.
The average gap between Park and Ahn is nearly eight percent.
Her first-ever appearance on the late night show came as the computer expert threatened her political ambitions by paying attention to young people.
During the talk show Park spoke frankly about her mother’s death. She said she felt something crucial was missing when she learned in France that her mother was shot dead by a man, who was directed by a North Korean spy, in 1974.
“I felt like my heart was hollow after being informed that my mom had passed away,” she said. Park was studying in France at that time and hurriedly returned to Seoul.
Five years after her mother passed away, her father was also assassinated by the director of the KCIA.
“Around that time, when eating rice, I felt like I was eating grains of sand. I felt so sick that I was admitted to the hospital. On my body I found I had unusual bruises here and there, which were physical symptoms showing that I was so shocked by my father’s death,” she said.
In 2006, Park was attacked by a man during a campaign rally in Seoul for the local elections. The man cut her cheek with a razor blade. She was hospitalized immediately and underwent surgery.
“The first thought that I had at that time was that it seemed to be my turn after my parents were shot dead,” Park said.