By Lee Tae-hoon
The two rival presidential contenders to Rep. Park Geun-hye Monday welcomed an apology she offered to those who suffered during the 17-year iron-fisted rule of her late father, the former President Park Chung-hee.
However, Cho Gab-je, conservative journalist, called it an extreme act of filial impiety, while families of those who suffered during the Park era claimed it was not enough.
“It would have been a very difficult decision. I believe she pulled it off very well,” said Rep. Moon Jae-in, the presidential contender of the main opposition Democratic United Party.
The human rights lawyer-turned politician said he hopes her gesture of reconciliation will pave the way for national unity and correct distorted views about the country’s modern history.
Rep. Woo Sang-ho, a spokesman to Moon, said that Park, the standard bearer of the ruling Saenuri Party, must take a set of “sincere follow-up measures” to make any significant contribution to national integration.
Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo also positively assessed Park’s courage to confront the dark chapter of the country’s industrialization and her father’s authoritarian regime.
“It was very difficult, but absolutely necessary for her to apologize,” the IT mogul-turned-politician said.
“Now we need to move toward a new future based on the painful lessons of the past.”
When asked whether Park’s press briefing was made out of a genuine sense of remorse, Ahn said, “Yes, I believe so.”
However, families of eight people executed in 1975 after being falsely convicted of breaking the National Security Law questioned the “true motives” behind Park’s decision to back off from her defensive stance previously adopted over her late father’s controversial political legacy.
“It is apparent that Park reluctantly made the apologetic remarks to increase her chance of becoming president as she is cornered by her faltering popularity,” they said in a statement.
They said it was regretful that Park once again attempted to justify her father’s dictatorship by saying dissidents were responsible for hampering national development.
Twenty three pro-democracy activists faced trial in 1974 on fabricated charges of being members of a pro-Pyongyang spy ring. The eight were executed the following year.