Park Geun-hye pays tribute to liberal presidents

Park’s tribute to late father: Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential contender of the ruling Saenuri Party, burns incense at a memorial for her late father, President Park Chung-hee, at the National Cemetery in Dongjak-dong, Seoul, Tuesday. Park also paid her respects to the late Presidents Syngman Rhee and Kim Dae-jung at the memorial park. She also made a surprise trip to Bonghwa, the hometown of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, to visit the grave of the deceased liberal leader. (Photo : The Korea Times/Oh Dae-geun)

Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, made a surprise visit Tuesday to the grave of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, a symbolic gesture to rally support even from her opponents.

Park, the former interim leader of the conservative party, said she went to the late President’s hometown of Bonghwa in North Gyeongsang Province to pay her respects to Roh, an icon of the liberal camp out of her respect for his contribution to the country.

“The pain I had was beyond description when I lost both of my parents all of a sudden,” she said. “I fully understand how much it would have broken the heart of his wife Kwon (Yang-sook).”

DUP officials, however, argued that the 60-year-old lawmaker’s sudden visit to the late President Roh’s grave was a “political show” and it lacked sincerity.

Rep. Jung Sung-ho, spokesman of the DUP, stressed that Park should have issued a formal apology on her and her father’s misdeeds in the past before making such a controversial visit.

“President Roh passed away because of the Lee Myung-bak administration and political prosecutors,” he said, arguing that Park appears to be only interested in securing more votes.

“Her visit is just a show that hurts the feeling of Roh’s bereaved family members.”

Rep. Kang Gi-jung, a member of the DUP Supreme Council, concurred with Jung, adding that Park does not deserve to pay respects to those who died by the hands of her father and the conservative government, including the victims of a military coup in 1961, unless she offers a sincere apology.

However, Rep. Lee Sang-min, a director of Moon’s camp, welcomed Park’s visit to the late President’s tomb.

“Park’s visit might have come out of political calculations or strategic concerns but we all need to embrace our opponents,” he said.

The late Roh, a progressive politician and former civil rights lawyer, took his own life while being investigated over allegations that his wife and son received bribes from a local businessman.

Earlier in the day, she visited the National Cemetery to pay her respects to former President Syngman Rhee, her late father and former president Park Chung-hee and former President Kim Dae-jung.

The visit to the cemetery marked her first official activity since securing the Saenuri Party’s presidential nomination on Monday.

She won a landslide victory in the primary by garnering 83.96 percent of the vote, becoming the first woman to compete for the nation’s top post on the ticket of a major political party.

Political watchers say her visit to Bonghwa can be viewed as an attempt to alleviate hostile feelings against her, while broadening her support base among figures of the democratization movement.

Lee Jung-hyun, a member of the Saenuri Party’s Supreme Council, also stressed the Sanuri Party’s need to work together with figures of the past liberal governments.

“We must embrace all figures, including the ones who participated in the late Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations,” he said in a radio program. <The Korea Times/Lee Tae-hoon>

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