Chung’s Wet Joke

Chung Mong-joon, the head of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), may have seen by some as displaying an unswerving sense of humor even when he was put in a dire situation that threatened his life yesterday.

As Chung was returning from an inspection on the cultural assets of ancient stone construction in the southeastern Ulsan, which Korea wants to register with the UNESCO as a world heritage site, suddenly his body slipped into water as the ice of a frozen river cracked.

He was soaking wet and wild-eyed.

Fortunately, he was immediately pulled up.

But a swarm of journalists, accompanying Chung, captured the moment with pictures that have widely circulated in the media outlets.

But Chung was a seasoned politician who knew how to use humor to bail him out of the situation, which was also an embarrassment. As he was pulled out from the icy water, he joked to Ahn Sang-soo, the GNP’s floor leader.

“Well, that was close. You could have taken over my job,” JoongAng Ilbo cited Chung as saying.

In case Chung suddenly dies, according to GNP’s party constitution, it is not Ahn who succeeds Chung’s post. The second-highest ranking official in GNP, after Chung, is Huh Tae-yeol.

Chung likely made the mistake of misstating the power hierarchy because he was too frightened at the moment, JoongAng said.