Does South Korean President have 'teenage' mentality?

By Park Si-soo

President Park Geun-hye's mental age seems to be stuck between 17 and 18, renowned psychologist Hwang Sang-min said, raising the possibility that her allegedly unsettled mentality has led the 64-year-old to have an excessive attachment to longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil.

"Park moved to the presidential house when she was 11 (in 1963) and enjoyed a princess-like lifestyle until 1979," Hwang told an online radio show. "It is believed that she grew up there without difficulties ordinary people experience in their childhood."

The Harvard graduate said a lack of hard times in formative years can stunt mental growth and evolve a person's thinking and behavior in ways that clash with ordinary people.

Park left Cheong Wa Dae after her father, iron-fisted dictator Park Chung-hee, was assassinated by his close aide in 1979. She and her two siblings kept a low profile until Park was elected a lawmaker in 1998. But it doesn't mean they were poor during the period. They were able to support their life with a huge amount of "consolation money" from their father's successor, Chun Doo-hwan, and income from a charity foundation named after their mother, who was assassinated in 1974.

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"Park reportedly got to know Choi Soon-sil when she was 23-24," the psychologist said. "Choi is known to have served as a full-time ‘guardian' of Park since then, so it means Park missed another opportunity to get herself exposed to difficulties."

Hwang is a well-known critic of Park. He became a target of strong criticism from Park's supporters in 2012 after raising questions about her social gender identity because of a lack of experience as an ordinary woman.

He was sacked from Seoul's Yonsei University early this year for what his supporters claimed was "dubious" reasons.

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