Like father, like daughter

Park Chung-hee (left) and Park Geun-hye

By Oh Young-jin

Three things are quite likely about how the ongoing scandal involving President Park Geun-hye will go. First, Park won't step down on her own accord.

Second, the reason for that is she doesn't feel any guilt about what she has done.

And third, it is all related to her upbringing. Part of the blame for how she is acting brazenly and without regret should fall on her parents and especially on her father, the army general-turned-dictator, Park Chung-hee, who ruled the nation with an iron fist for 20 years. The senior Park tried to stay in power for life but was shot to death by his top aide.

Reinforcing her determination to cling to power is, of course, the nature of power that is the most potent aphrodisiac, certainly stronger than a garden variety of anti-aging rejuvenation drugs ― Viagra included ― that were said to be on Cheong Wa Dae's medicinal grocery list.

Just in case Park is ousted by impeachment proceedings or steps down under other extraordinary circumstances, the chance is that she won't feel sorry for what she has done.

This means the hundreds of thousands participating in weekly candlelit vigils should prepare for a long-term struggle that may be stretched well past the incoming winter.

True, however orderly, the massive numbers of protesters advancing close to hundreds of meters from Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office, could be scary.

But just think about what Park has been through.

Her father contributed to the nation's industrialization, enabling many cottage industry family-oriented businesses, turbocharged on state support, to transform into conglomerates, called "chaebol." They include a who's who of Korea Inc. including Samsung, LG, SK, Hyundai, Doosan and others.

That is called the period of development dictatorship in which the senior Park tried to compensate for his lack of legitimacy ― his past as a Japanese collaborator serving as a commissioned officer in the Japanese imperial army and his rise to power through a military coup ― by enriching the destitute country, devastated by the 1950-1953 Korean War and the 1910-1945 Japanese occupation.

The late Park still has a significant following especially among the old generations who still miss the can-do spirit and breakneck speed of change, who are ready to ignore costs: brutal repression of dissenters through torture and other human rights violations. They have until recently been the bulwark support base for the younger Park.

The incumbent President lived as the first daughter and then as stand-in for first lady Yuk Young-soo, her mother, who was killed by a bullet meant for her husband, fired by a Korean-Japanese on a mission from North Korea, during a celebration on Aug. 15, 1974, to mark the nation's liberation from Japan.

Therefore, she feels by inheritance she owns part of the chaebol. Going back to the early stage of her term, it was not hard to find her chiding chaebol for not doing enough often from a matriarchic standpoint. It recalled her father.

In hindsight, it is not hard to guess why she had given up so easily on her key campaign pledge of economic democratization. This idea, suggested by her German-educated political economist Kim Chong-in, was alien to Park. She dumped this populist idea after she got elected.

By this standard, it is quite likely that Park rather was upset that, for the Mir and K-Sports foundations, chaebol were not as forthcoming with "donations" as she thought they should be.

Choi Soon-sil, Park's confidant of 40 years, is often portrayed as the main perpetrator in the scandal. She had apparently lined her pockets and gotten her daughter admitted into Ewha Womans University. But Choi, a daughter of an exorcist who had allegedly enchanted Park, must have been just one of her "faithful" assistants. In her apology, first acknowledging having allowed Choi to check her speeches in advance, she said, "I have lowered my guard" on Choi, confirming their master-servant relationship.

About Park being the type who can't be easily scared, her father could explain it best.

He had seen a lot worse ― demonstrations across the country for his attempt to extend his presidential tenure to life in October 1972 under the Yushin (Restoration) Constitution, named ironically after Japan's 1868 Meiji Restoration.

A cycle of violent protests and brutal suppressions had been repeated until the day, Oct. 26, 1979, when Park was assassinated by his chief intelligence officer who fell out of Park's favor and shot him to death at the end of a power struggle with Park's chief bodyguard.

Our current President is battle-hardened, so to speak, having seen bloody street combat and parents killed, a lot worse than the latest round of peaceful protests where mothers would take their kids out in strollers. Park can tough it out.

That is why Cheong Wa Dae still works tactically despite Park's top lieutenants being relieved of their duty. Even if some accounts about her being intellectually challenged are to be believed, it couldn't be a reason to underestimate her survival instinct.

Some people often challenge Park's intelligence citing her dislike of reading books.

But she has a "good" teacher in her father in terms of crisis management.

That was well proven when Cheong Wa Dae defied prosecutors' designation of Park as "conspirator" in a chaebol extortion charge together with Choi. Now, Park has dared the opposition to begin the impeachment process, knowing it is a very tricky procedure that can be made possible after clearing many hurdles starting from passage in the National Assembly and ending with confirmation by the Constitutional Court.

So don't rule out that Park is around for some time to come.

Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.

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