President problem or woman problem?

By Kim Ji-myung

The ancient Chinese believed, according to feng-shui (K. pungsu, geomancy) philosophy, that the world changes in three sexagesimal cycles, every 180 years; Koreans also accepted this system. They termed these cycles in temporal order, as the upper cycle, followed by the middle cycle and then the lower cycle.

The current sexagenary cycle (1984-2043) is a lower cycle. During this period, the power of yin, the force of the earth, dominates. In their 1996 paper “Unraveling feng-shui,” scholars Chiou and Krishnamurti explained that positions of the earth and sky would be reversed in this era.

A Korean expert in I Ching (Classic of Changes) theory interpreted this as indicating that the lower-cycle will empower women more than ever. And therefore, in this period until 2043, the world would see the emergence of many female political leaders.

This era of yin power will see prospering entertainment and game businesses, while women advance to ranking positions in administrative, legislative and judicial government branches, he claimed.

When Ms. Park Geun-hye won the election in December 2012, many people mentioned this lower-cycle theory. As if to prove the cosmic rules by incidental reports, outstanding women leaders have emerged in many countries at the same time.

United Nations data shows that there are currently 9 women serving as heads of government and 10 elected as heads of state. Half of them are the first women to hold their country’s highest office. These women account for about one in 10 of today’s leaders of United Nations member states.

As one of the three Northeast Asian countries still retaining many influential elements from their strong Confucian heritage, South Korea appeared as more advanced than most East Asian countries by having a woman become president.

Along with this, Korea seemed to emerge as a model democracy, as we have witnessed a peaceful transfer of power between opposing political parties twice.

After 45 months in office, President Park Geun-hye is now in deep trouble, mired in a bizarre scandal involving two elusive figures (Choi Soon-sil and her late father, a cultish preacher) who reportedly yielded unchecked influence over her behind the scenes for four decades.

No one yet knows what this soap-opera kind of story will lead to as new facts or rumored factoids are uncovered to surprise us every day. Suddenly, all of our political, prosecutorial and governmental officers seem to have lost their direction and sense of judgment. They change their statements every day and tell lies that are revealed as such only hours later.

Koreans are especially disappointed because this is totally against their naïve expectation that as a single person without close family members, President Park would not let them down with the usual relatives-related scandals like former presidents had.

But what enraged people most is the unacceptable damage these people have caused to national dignity and self-esteem of the citizenry. This scandal involves a full variety of criminal, venal and greedy acts — violations of laws and regulations, bribery, tax evasion, fraud, a shakedown of corporations, rigging, graft and unlawful meddling in public policy decisions.

Two factors make this scandal exceptional and dramatic. First, no one involved has yet spoken up in defense of the President, which is why people are now calling it the “Park scandal” instead of the “Choi scandal.”

The second factor that sheds a tragic light on this show is the spiritual dimension of the scandal. The presidential office has been forced to deny the rumor that during the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry Park could not receive reports and hence could not respond in time because she was attending a shamanic ritual.

The life story of Choi and her late father Choi Tae-min has all the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy. Father Choi had seven or eight names, belonged to many religions and founded his own unorthodox cult.

According to Park’s words, she “got help” from the Choi family when she was enduring her hardships. Minister Choi (whose title was confirmed as fake by the Korean Christian Association) approached the young Park, claiming that her mother, the late first lady, had appeared in his dreams and asked him to help Park.

Dr. Kim Dong-gil, a leading conservative intellectual who had been an ardent promoter of President Park, has now vehemently criticized her — not for the churlish scoundrels of the inner group or her hubris, but for her concealing the cultism. Many Christians had supported Park without knowing that Choi’s fraudulent pseudo-religion had dominated her soul.

If we try to find favorable factors for competent female leadership, the level of gender equality in the society seems to be a key factor. Iceland, Finland and Norway have had long periods of successful women leaders.

Meanwhile, during Park’s government, statistics show that Korean women’s social status has declined. Family policies have focused on welfare and increasing the birthrate but neglected other issues such as employment and working conditions.

Maybe to be politically correct, or for lack of proof, no one has yet yelled: “the Park problem is a woman problem.” But a grave concern runs deep in the minds of many that this scandal may taint all future women that hope to assume leadership in Korea.

The writer is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is Heritagekorea21@gmail.com.