By Kang Hyun-kyung
A tall, skinny woman stole the show during the ruling Saenuri Party campaign meeting held Friday as her choice of words, dress code and background were quite unconventional.
Kim Sung-joo, 55, chairwoman and CEO of the Sungjoo Group widely known as the maker of high-end MCM bags, said she knew nothing about politics, but joined the Park Geun-hye camp to change it.
Wearing red sneakers, Kim, the youngest daughter of Kim Soo-keun, the founder of energy provider Daesung Group, labeled herself as “a wild horse” traveling all over the world, referring to her challenging spirit and super-active attitude.
“People say I come from one of the nation’s richest families. Yes, I do. What makes me standout from other up-scale people, though, is that I am a limousine leftist,” she said.
“I was kicked out from my family a long time ago after I refused to tie the knot with a man my parents arranged for me… I think women and young people should spearhead revolutions. I believe I came to adapt to a multicultural atmosphere easier than others because I am a woman.”
Rep. Park, the presidential candidate of the Saenuri Party, called upon Kim to assume the key campaign post. Kim said she received phone calls from other camps, too, but decided to join the Park camp because she was convinced that Park was the right person to lead the drive for clean politics.
Kim drew public attention as her straightforward speaking style sometimes causes a stir. Some people were perhaps irked because of her belief in the need for women to engage in military service, like men. She thinks the experience will help toughen them.
She may bring vitality to the Park camp, which was accused of being filled with the latter’s aides who try to curry favor with the presidential candidate.
Insiders said the ruling party expects educated women in their 20s, 30s and 40s to support Park because many of them view the successful businesswoman, who rose to that position without family support, as a role model.
Heo Jin-jae, a Gallup pollster, said aides can make or break a presidential candidate in the race. But he declined to comment on whether Kim will be good for the Park camp or not, saying he was not in a position to make such prediction.
In testimony she delivered at a church in April, Kim said her parents cut off all financial support from her in the 1980s when she was in the United States studying because of her decision to refuse an arranged marriage her parents came up with.
“When I was in New York, I had to walk 20 minutes to a grocery store to buy cheap food. I got three jobs to finance my life there. My health declined because of hard work and a restless life,” she said.
“But that experience of hardship taught me to be fearless, passionate and very enthusiastic.”
Some characterized Kim as a sexist. But some disagreed, saying she was quoted out of context.
In an interview last year, Kim said she has plans to send her daughter to a Kibbutz, a collective community in Israel for training. “I was told that she was not eligible for military service here. So I will encourage her to go to the collective community in Israel to become stronger. My daughter hates me whenever I say so,” Kim said.
She encourages educated women to “fly in the sky, not content with living in a cage as a canary,” asking them to confront all challenges ahead.
Internet users showed a mixed reaction to Kim. A blogger, Ujungsub, called Kim a fresh figure, saying she appears to be decisive and reform-minded.
Meanwhile, Internet user, yonbus68, said Rep. Park would lose out because of the outspoken Kim.