Will father’s legacy damage Park’s bid?

Rep. Park Geun-hye, left, the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate, writes calligraphy as her father, the late President Park Chung-hee, looks on in this file photo taken in Cheong Wa Dae on Aug. 31, 1977. / Korea Times file

Saenuri party’s candidate adjusting stance little by little

By Chung Min-uck

Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, is grappling with the legacy of her father, the late former President Park Chung-hee.

The deceased Park seized power in a military coup in 1961 and maintained an iron-fisted dictatorship for 18 years before he was shot dead by the director of the nation’s intelligence service in 1979.

There are two views about the years of his regime ― one being it impeded the nation’s democratization, while another view credits him with the nation’s economic prosperity.

With the presidential elections due in December, it is inevitable that his daughter is being questioned about “unfortunate” events that took place during her father’s rule.

However, many questions being asked have already been answered.

In 2007, when she was competing against President Lee Myung-bak for the party’s presidential ticket, she came under fire for calling the May 16, 1961 military coup a “nation-salvaging revolution” and that it became “inevitable” under the circumstances.

The coup gave power to the general-turned-president.

Back then, the nature of Rep. Park’s remarks stirred controversy and people questioned her qualifications to become the nation’s next leader.

Such controversy over Park’s historical views resurfaced recently.

Last week, she went on to say that the Yushin (Revitalizing Reform) Constitution, introduced in 1972, that laid out legal provisions allowing Park to become president for life, and an infamous incident that targeted the People’s Revolutionary Party (PRP), known as “Inhyukdang,” must be looked at under the circumstances of the times.

The PRP incident refers to a violation of human rights that occurred in 1975 when eight pro-democracy activists were executed just 18 hours after a court ruling branded them as anti-government elements. In a retrial in 2007, another court acquitted them.

“Park Geun-hye took part in state affairs under Park Chung-hee’s administration serving as first lady after her mother was assassinated in 1974. So, she has to defend those historic incidents,” said Yoon Hee-woong, a senior fellow at the Seoul-based polling agency Korea Society Opinion Institute.

“Park Geun-hye is stuck in the past,” said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University. “It will hold back her attempt to shift the focus of having constructive discussions about the nation’s future.”

It remains questionable how her father’s legacy will affect her presidential bid above all because it has been under public scrutiny for a long time and there is no element of surprise in it.

Plus, Park is adjusting her approach little by little to accommodate her detractors’ claims without compromising her original position.

Saenuri Party insiders say that Park Geun-hye is preparing to renew her stance on those controversial issues if her possible main rival Ahn Cheol-soo, an entrepreneur-turned-professor who is popular among the younger generation, announces his presidential bid. Ahn will clarify his position on Wednesday.

Her step-by-step approach is apparently chosen in order to not alienate traditional conservative supporters, who are not necessarily critical of her father’s past achievement of economic prosperity.

According to a survey conducted by the Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, on Park’s historical perceptions, 40.9 percent answered that there was no problem with them.

In a regular survey conducted by pollster Realmeter last week, Park’s approval rating fell an average 3 percent in a hypothetical two-way race with Ahn and Rep. Moon Jae-in, the newly-elected presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), respectively. Park’s rating in a hypothetical multi-person competition for the presidential bid also fell by 1.8 percent.

“In order for Park to win the presidential race, support from moderate voters and voters in their 20s to 40s is essential,” said Yoon. “If Park continues to stick to her old stance, the controversy will overshadow her reform measures which make them less appealing to voters especially among those who are undecided.”

The analyst added that such a stance by Park will give an opportunity to the opposition presidential candidates to effectively engage in negative campaigning against her with less than 100 days left before the election.

Moon criticized Park for her “distorted” views of history after being selected as the sole presidential candidate of the DUP, Sunday.

“Park Geun-hye is not qualified to become a president if she does not rectify her historical views,” said Moon during the DUP’s final primary held in Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi Province. “How can she even talk about national integrity without sincerely offering a proper apology to the victims of the authoritarian rule.”

Park was prevented from visiting the Jeon Tae-il Foundation by protesters and bereaved family members last month; in a move that was understood as an attempt to reconcile with her opponents.

Jeon became a symbolic figure of the country's labor movement after he burned himself to death in 1970 while fighting for better working conditions at a textile firm. He died at the age of 22. The incident was seen as a protest against the authoritarian regime of Park’s father.

Incidents in spotlight

May 16 coup

This was a military coup d’etat orchestrated by Army major-general Park Chung-hee on May 16, 1961.

Through it, Park seized power from the democratically elected government of Yun Bo-seon and installed a military regime.

Using martial law, Park laid the foundation for rapid industrialization of the nation.

Whether to say the coup was unavoidable, however, still remains controversial because many view it as the start of democracy being suppressed.

Yushin order

The Yushin (Revitalizing Reform) order is a system of highly centralized authoritarian rule implemented by Park Chung-hee under the Yushin Constitution adopted on Oct. 1972.

It suspended the original constitution and dissolved the legislature. The new constitution also permitted the re-election of the president for an unlimited number of six-year terms triggering mass demonstrations.

The Yushin order ended when Park was assassinated by Kim Jae-kyu, the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency in October 1979.

PRP incident

The People’s Revolutionary Party (PRP) incident, also known as “Inhyukdang” in Korean, is a legal case in which the Park Chung-hee administration accused 23 members of the PRP of attempting to overthrow the government by “forming a committee for re-establishment of the PRP.”

It came in the wake of nationwide demonstrations protesting against Park’s dictatorship. They were arrested in 1974 under the National Security Law.

In 1975, the Supreme Court sentenced eight members to death. The remaining 15 were sentenced to either fifteen years or life imprisonment.

The eight PRP members were executed just 18 hours after the verdict stirring outrage and further controversy. In a retrial in 2007, the court acquitted all eight members posthumously.