Park displays applause-drawing tricks

By Kim Tae-gyu

Journalists are never intended to be cheerleaders at meetings ― they are not conductors of applause and that is especially the case regarding politicians.

When President Park Geun-hye entered an open-air luncheon site, Friday, Cheong Wa Dae officials asked journalists to applaud ― and they, a little reluctantly, did so.

Acknowledging our applause with a broad smile, Park gave a speech mostly on recent North Korean threats and the closed inter-Korean joint industrial complex in the border town of Gaeseong, creating a very serious atmosphere.

Her remarks on North Korean issues continued for almost 10 minutes prodding some to complain they should not have to write down so much at a place where they were supposed to have a casual lunch. We Cheong Wa Dae beat reporters have heard the official stance of the President on the North Korean issue so many times.

Maybe Park sensed the awkward situation as, all of a sudden, she stopped short and said she had gotten carried away, adding it was too important an issue not to mention, making the audience laugh.

She then told a story from the late 1970s when she played the role of the de-facto first lady for her father, authoritarian leader Park Chung-hee, after her mother was assassinated in 1974.

At that time, she said, she had opportunities to meet reporters, whom she described as heavy drinkers. She said reporters then did not regard any outdoor activities as picnics if they did not collapse after drinking too much.

Wearing a purple jacket and white trousers, Park joked to take the lunch as a picnic, prompting journalists to laugh out loud and applaud quite a long time.

Park obviously has the capability of spicing things up. The lunch was a showcase of her ability to make even grumpy reporters voluntarily applaud and laugh heartily.