Is Park Geun-hye mentally ill, or is it calculated behavior?

Former President Park Geun-hye smiling upon her arrival at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul for questioning on March 21. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

By Ko Dong-hwan

The strange behavior of impeached former Korean President Park Geun-hye, locked up and on trial for a range of corruption charges, has raised questions about her mental state.

Witnesses have told of Park’s odd behavior in her cell at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, or during court hearings.

But some believe the acts may be deliberate to gain sympathy that might help her avoid punishment.

Most recently, Park, who was due for a court hearing at Seoul Central District Court, Monday, did not arrive.

Her lawyer Chae Myung-sung said at the hearing that Park injured her left foot, which was swollen.

The lawyer said Park suffered the injury before July 7 when she attended a previous hearing.

Chae said Park’s “mind and health have seriously weakened because she has gone through four hearings a week.”

The detention center’s warden reportedly heard Park murmuring in an indiscernible language as she sat facing a wall inside her cell. The warden thought she was praying, but she was speaking neither Korean nor English, according to Ilyo Shimmun.

She has also shown signs of memory loss. When she met her lawyers and aides at the detention center, she seemed to have forgotten the name of an aide whom she has met frequently.

On another occasion she ate a meal ― then asked for another just 30 minutes later.

At court hearings, she made headlines on June 13 as she laughed while watching her lawyer Yoo Young-ha and witness Ryu Jin-ryong, the former culture, sports and tourism minister, argue ― a rare act from the queen of the poker face.

At one time during hearings, she kept drawing doodles, erasing them, collecting eraser particles with her hands and cleaning her hands with wet tissues for 20 minutes.

At other times, she dozed off or yawned.

According to a psychologist, Park, who has been imprisoned since March 31, might be denying the reality that she is a prisoner.

He said her acts were a “sure sign of mental disruption” adding it is not unusual when a person’s social status suddenly changes.

But an anti-Park lawmaker said her acts were a “wily plan” to influence her supporters and encourage the pro-Park Liberty Korea Party to leverage her behavior as a possible tool to free her of charges.

“The decision-making body at the court must act fast in her trial,” the anti-Park lawmaker said.