Politics of public crying

By Lee Chang-sup

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon shed tears and knelt during a press conference Sunday. Despite his last-minute emotional appeal, Seoulites rejected Wednesday the mayor's proposal for a limited and gradual provision of free school meals for fiscal prudence. He should be the most unsuccessful Weeper of the Year.

Many politicians and public post-holders, naturally or unnaturally, shed tears these days to get their messages across and to move out of their most awkward and embarrassing moments.

At a televised National Assembly confirmation hearing on Aug.4, Han Sang-dae, the nominee for the prosecutor general, choked up in quivering lip and sobbed in an attempt to repress his emotion when a lawmaker alleged that the appointment was a secret deal

between his elder brother in the U.S. and President Lee Myung-bak.

His near-sobbing kept other lawmakers from digging further into the allegation.

At the same hearing, tears rolled down the face of Rep. Park Young-sun of the opposition Democratic Party. The teary lawmaker was successful in highlighting what she called the prosecution’s double standard, namely strong on the weak, and weak on the powerful. She claimed the prosecutors under the Lee administration were unfair. She cited, as an example, the investigation of a bribery scandal involving former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook under the Roh Moo-hyun administration. She also hit the nominee for winking at the BBK scandal involving President Lee.

Crying episodes abound. Prime Minister Kim Hwang-shik, former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, Health-Welfare Minister Jin Soo-hee, and Choe Si-joong, chairman of the Korea Telecommunications Commission also were tearful during parliamentary hearings.

Minister Jin wiped her eyes as a lawmaker took issue with her daughter’s giving up her Korean nationality.

Han had tears in her eyes when she was recalling the torture she and her husband under went during the authoritarian rules in the 1970s.

The septuagenarian KTC Chairman Choi could not control his crying when an opposition

lawmaker derided him for stifling press freedom.

Prime Minister Kim swallowed his tears as he, a student in Germany in the 1970s, reminisced in the meeting with Korean nurses and miners, who were among a few export items for Korea at that time.

Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s eyes grew wet when PyeongChang was declared as the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Durban, South Africa, last month.

In a 2009 parliamentary confirmation hearing, Yoon Jeung-hyun, the nominee for the finance-economy minister, dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief as a lawmaker touched upon his unhappy family saga.

Crying in public has become a recent phenomenon in Korea although it has been a focus of debate in many Western countries. Korean male children were not supposed to cry, which their parents view as a sign of weakness. Swallowing crying was a symbol of manhood. Public figures were not supposed to display emotions in the Oriental society.

Public crying has been used for political persuasion, emphasis, self-definition, warding off public criticism, and suggesting intimacy. It may be a family habit. Getting oneself properly weepy at times of heightened public emotions proved effective. Males turning on waterworks are powerful in winning the hearts of women.

Public crying makes people sentimental and illogical. Ironically few had lost through weeping. Many public figures have seen their popularity rising. They could evade their most embarrassing moments as the public gives the benefit of doubt to those weepers in times of suspicion.

Public crying sometimes deprives the public of knowing the truth. Critics argue a Cabinet nominee incapable of managing his or her emotion is unfit for leading an organization. They were crying mostly when outsiders tried to unearth family issues.

The public should be judicious in telling crocodile’s tears from true crying.

Some marine animals allegedly shed tears to get rid of excess salt in their eyes. According to an ancient anecdote, crocodiles weep in order to lure their prey or for the victims they are eating.

Crocodile cannot cry although they can generate tears. Tears of crocodiles are visible when their eyes begin to dry out outside the water.

It may be rude to say that crying in public, ― real or fake ― is part of a person’s psychological manipulation intended to convey their message. It is also an exaggeration to say that their sobbing is exploitative, abusive and deceptive tactics.

Some public figures seem to enjoy the syndrome of crocodile tears, however, apparently to draw compassion or overcome dilemma. Consultants might have given them the tip on when to be teary in order to dramatize their message or overcome dilemma.

Emotive grandstanding is widespread in Korea. Nationalists cut off their fingers. Politicians burst into tears. Tycoons arrive at court in hospital pajamas. Those who carry out these stunts hope to win over public emotion, but these are serious issues that demand rational debate. Those who carry out these ridiculous displays are insulting the public intelligence and should be treated with derision.

Lee Chang-sup is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times. He can be reached at editorial@koreatimes.co.kr