By Jun Ji-hye
Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party presidential candidate, shot herself in the foot by making a gaffe in the second televised debate with other candidates Monday.
It was the latest in a number of gaffes she has recently made, which have given the opposition camp and some Internet users the opportunity to call her capability as a leader into question.
During her appearance in the second TV debate, the 60-year-old conservative said, while explaining her plan to raise funds for her welfare programs, "I will prepare 135 trillion won ($125 billion) for five years by invigorating the underground economy."
The underground economy refers to unlawful economic activities such as gambling, unregistered lending business and other commercial activities unreported to the authorities.
Park chose the wrong word using "invigorating" instead of "incorporating" the underground economy; a move raise more taxes.
Kim Chong-in, who chairs the committee to pursue people's happiness for the ruling party, admitted Park's mistake in a radio appearance Tuesday, saying, "Park chose the wrong word, so her remarks may be misleading."
In August, the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, made the same error when answering a question about a way of securing funds for welfare projects during a meeting with a group of reporters.
Her political foes and some netizens pointed out that her repeated gaffes should not be played down as just minor mistakes, raising questions about her qualifications as a presidential candidate.
Well-known political critic Jin Joong-kwon, a professor at Dong-A University, posted on his Twitter account, "Of course, I don't think she actually wanted to invigorate the underground economy. The mistake came from her lack of knowledge in economics and linguistics."
Rep. Chung Sye-kyun of the main opposition Democratic United Party said, "The president is in a position that never allows any mistakes."
Netizens are sharing a video clip showing a collection of Park's previous tongue slips, including the scene where she mistakenly said, "I will resign from the President post," instead of saying, "I will resign from the National Assembly," last month.
Regarding criticisms, the ruling party tried to emphasize that it was just a "mistake" that anyone can make. Park Seon-kyu, a spokesman for Park's election camp, said "You need to take a look of the whole context of Park's remarks."
새누리당 박근혜 대선후보 측은 11일 박 후보가 전날 TV토론회에서 지하경제 ‘양성화’를 ‘활성화’로 언급한 데 대해 “발음 상의 실수”라고 해명했다.
박 후보 측 박선규 대변인은 이날 여의도 당사에서 가진 브리핑에서 “어제 박 후보가 토론 과정에서 발음상 실수를 한 것이 하나 있었다”며 “더 많은 실수가 있었지만 특별히 관심 있게 설명드려야 하는 건 지하경제 ‘양성화’를 ‘활성화’로 발음이 잘못됐다는 것”이라고 했다.
박 대변인은 이어 “이해하실 것이다. 누구든 중요한 자리에서 발음실수를 할 수 있고 순간적인 실수가 나타날 수 있다”며 “실수로 이해해 달라”고 했다.
그는 토론회에서 통합진보당 이정희 후보가 박 후보의 지난 성북동 집 세금문제를 제기한 데 대해선 “다른 사람 공격하기에 앞서 자신을 돌아보라”고 맞받았다.
박 대변인은 “박 후보는 집을 팔고 사는 데에도 거래가격으로 전부 신고하고 공개했다는 사실을 다 기억할 것”이라며 “이 후보의 선거공보물을 보면 본인과 남편 명의로 세금을 내지 않은 기록이 그대로 있다”고 꼬집었다.
North Korea decides to suspend nuclear, missile tests, shut down atomic test site 
Foreigners join police patrols to fight crime 
'Hot bodies' cool off along Seoul's waterfront [PHOTOS] 
Days shaking the world 
'KAL owners used planes to smuggle private goods' 
Samsung's Jay Y. Lee seeks better access to Trump 
Bio stocks plunging on controversy over fundamentals 
Moon, Kim connected with direct hotline 
Samsung denies rumors over Nokia's health unit 
75 Japanese lawmakers visit Yasukuni ahead of inter-Korea summit 
.jpg)
