The ruling Saenuri Party's presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye said Monday that her late father's controversial political legacies should be judged by history and called on politicians to focus on the future instead of the past.
The remarks made on a radio interview are a repeat of her stance that there remains conflicting views on her father's 18-year rule that began with the 1961 military coup.
Supporters claimed that her father, the late President Park Chung-hee, laid the foundation for the country's prosperity, while detractors have argued that his authoritarian rule suppressed democracy.
She also said that the Yushin Constitution introduced in 1972 and the infamous "Inhyukdang" incident must be looked at from the perspective of the times, with the final verdict to be reserved for history and the people.
Even before people go to the polls to pick the next president, the 60-year-old candidate said she and others running for the top office should tackle the many issues facing the country to ensure future growth and happiness of the people.
The hopeful, meanwhile, said despite some difference in views on how to push forward economic democratization, she is firmly committed to economic democratization.
Park said that policy reviews are underway to ban future cross-shareholding arrangements that distort ownership structures of conglomerates, and limit ownership of financial institutions by manufacturing companies.
On the issue of mud-slinging involving a Saenuri Party official and an associate of Ahn Cheol-soo, a software entrepreneur-turned-professor with political ambitions, Park said actions by former Saenuri media relations officer Jeong June-guil last week were inappropriate.
Jeong has been accused of threatening Keum Tae-sup, a lawyer with close ties to Ahn with allegations that the ruling camp has negative information against the dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University.
"Jeong should not have made the remark even during his casual conversation with his close friend. But it was also inappropriate (for the Ahn side) to go public with a telephone conversation between friends and use it as a political tool," she said.
Ahn has become the center of speculation for almost a year because he is very popular among younger voters for his clean image, and has been the only contender to run neck-and-neck with Park in polls.
In the two latest nationwide polls conducted on Friday and Saturday, Ahn trailed Park by a slim margin, which is viewed by pollsters as being negligible. (Yonhap)