Politicians following in their parents' footsteps

Offspring’s success

defends on how

to make better

achievements

By Jun Ji-hye

President Park Geun-hye

DP Chairman Kim Han-gil

Rep. Kim Moo-sung

Rep. Nam Kyung-pil

Rep. Noh Woong-rae

Rep. Chung Mong-joon

President Park Geun-hye has become South Korea’s first president to lead the nation following in her father’s footsteps.

She is the daughter of late Park Chung-hee, the former authoritarian president, who ruled the country for 18 years until his assassination in 1979.

Park is not the only one who inherited a political legacy from her parents here. In the 19th National Assembly, a total of 14 lawmakers are children of veteran politicians who were active in past decades, up from 10 in the 18th Assembly.

Along with an increase in the number, more notably, their political influence became much stronger in the current political landscape, which is enough to say, “This is the golden age of politicians in two consecutive generations.”

Opposition leader and his father

Rep. Kim Han-gil of the Democratic Party (DP) is the first opposition leader to follow his father’s career.

Kim, a forth-term lawmaker, was elected chairman of the main opposition party at a national convention on May 4.

His father Kim Cheol served as chairman of the Unification Socialist Party (USP) in the 1960s.

The late Kim is regarded as a pioneer of the nation’s social democracy movement. He took a leading role in establishing the USP with other liberal figures in 1961.

He also ran for presidential election in 1970, but withdrew his bid in order to rally opposition forces behind then liberal candidate Kim Dae-jung, who later became the nation’s 15th president.

In particular, Kim locked horns with Park, the current president’s father, over his dictatorship, resulting in Kim being imprisoned in 1975.

Following his election, the incumbent DP leader followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming the opposition counterpart against the conservative president.

After taking office, Kim appointed Rep. Noh Woong-rae as his chief secretary.

Second-term lawmaker Noh also inherited his father’s career as politician. He is a son of Noh Seong-hwan, former National Assembly vice speaker.

Rep. Chyung Ho-joon, also a DP lawmaker, is a grandson of the late Chyung Il-hyung, who served eight terms as a legislator from the second to ninth Assembly. He is also a son of Chyung Dae-cheol, a former five-term lawmaker who was a senior DP advisor.

Saenuri Party’s cases

Many politicians who took over their parents’ political career are lined up in the ruling Saenuri Party as well. Some changed their political line from their father’s liberal courses to conservatism though.

Rep. Kim Moo-sung is a son of former lawmaker Kim Yong-joo who served as floor leader of the Democratic Party in the 1960s, in what is seen as a significant change in the political course.

Five-term lawmaker Kim, who successfully returned to the Assembly through the April 24 by-election in Yeongdo, Busan, is cited as the most likely next chairman, which reflects the powerful influence he has over the party.

“He is a confidant of President Park Geun-hye’s supporters. Kim could become the Assembly speaker, and possibly run in the next presidential election,” said Chung Goon-gi, a political analyst and professor at the Journalism and Media Department of Kyonggi University.

Rep. Yoo Il-ho, who was recently appointed as the Saenuri spokesman and previously served as chief secretary for Park in her transition team, is the first son of Yoo Chi-song, former president of the now-defunct Democratic Korea Party.

Rep. Yoo Seong-min, who is a chairman of the Assembly national defense committee, is the second son of Yoo Soo-ho who served as a lawmaker in the 13th and 14th Assemblies.

The father of five-term legislator Nam Kyung-pil is late lawmaker Nam Pyeong-woo. Nam entered the parliament at the young age of 33 through a by-election in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in 1998.

The election was held after the death of his lawmaker father. Since then, he won the seat five consecutive times and has played a leading role in the party’s renovation group with other young lawmakers.

Saenuri’s Supreme Council member Jung Woo-taek is a son of former five-term lawmaker Jung Woon-kap, who previously served as agriculture and forestry minister.

Seven-term lawmaker Chung Mong-joon can be also listed in the father and son politicians as he is better known as the son of late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung, who previously run as a presidential candidate in 1992.

Advantages and disadvantages

Parents’ political experiences can give offspring both advantages and disadvantages, analysts say.

Bae Jong-chan, director of the department of social research at Research & Research, said, in many cases, sons and daughters of politicians can easily enter the political scene thanks to their parents’ reputations.

“They naturally inherited political experience and networks from their parents. This plays a huge role as a valuable asset in their political activities. Usually, aides who assisted their parents continue to help them. In the case of Rep. Nam, he even received the baton of his father’s electoral constituency,” said Bae.

The analyst said, however, the public tends to evaluate them more strictly because of high expectations.

“The public wants to see if they are able to surpass their parents and this can be a big burden on them. So, they are in a different category from other politicians as they have another task to overcome this great pressure,” he said.

Bae stressed they need to be sure about themselves and the reason why they decided to become politicians.

“Sometimes, it seems unclear whether they decided to be a politician with a fair ambition to work for people’s livelihoods, or they chose the way because they were envious of the political power and the toll of being a celebrity that their parents have had,” said Bae.

He said if the latter is the reason behind their decision, they are not able to avoid public criticism, resulting in people having prejudice against parents and offspring politicians.

He said they will be applauded if they work for the public interest and produce better achievements than their parents’ by making the most of their political assets.

“When Rep. Nam became a lawmaker and was helped by his father’s aides, many people made sarcastic remarks saying all success he achieved was simply because he is the son of a ‘good father,’” he said.

“But, as time elapsed, the public saw his sincerity as a politician, resulting in them changing their attitude toward him in a positive way,” he added.