By Jun Ji-hye
Provincial governments are competing to build memorial halls for the late President Park Chung-hee, father of President Park Geun-hye, in a bid to attract more tourists. However, their competition is showing signs of overheating, analysts said Sunday.
Jun-gu District in central Seoul recently announced a plan to invest 28.6 billion won ($25 million) to build a memorial park for the former president around the house lived in for three years before taking power.
However, President Park voiced her skepticism last week, saying, “It is not appropriate to use taxpayers' money for such a project amid the ongoing economic difficulties.”
Despite Seoul city government’s opposition to the plan, Jung-gu Office made it clear Friday that it will try and push ahead with the plan.
The city of Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province has developed a 245,000 square-meter area to build a park to commemorate the Saemaeul (New Village) Movement, which was initiated by the late Park in the 1970s. With an estimated cost of 79.2 billion won, the city plans to complete construction by 2015.
Ulleung Island in the East Sea also joined the so-called “Park Chung-hee marketing,” by announcing it will develop a memorial hall in the old official residence of a governor in the island where Park stayed for a night.
Analysts say the names of former presidents can play a role as brands especially as tourism items as in the birthplaces of Syngman Rhee, Park or Kim Dae-jung, where thousands of tourists visit every year.
But excessive competition promoting the father of the incumbent president can be seen as excessive loyalty and a waste of budget, they said.
“As there are no specific standards to assess former presidents in this country, most people here subjectively and emotionally evaluate them. The late Park is a symbol of a conservative figure, so it is very understandable that such projects face opposition from a considerable number of opposition factions,” said Bae Jong-chan, a director of the department of social research at Research & Research.
He added local governments should be more cautious about their plans as such memorial halls or parks could be “white elephants” after President Park’s term ends.