Rep. Park refers to father’s famous quote

Rep. Park Geun-hye

Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, said Monday that historians will judge the dark days of her late father’s rule, refraining from commenting on his controversial legacy.

“My father used to say ‘spit on my grave’ when he mentioned Yusin (referring to the political repression under the late President Park Chung-hee administration),” she said in a radio program. “His remarks hinted that he made such a decision in anguish and he was deeply concerned about the country.”

Park’s remarks were construed as meaning that the late President Park knew that repression of democracy under his rule would backfire some day and the future generations would blame him for it.

Yet he had no other choice but to push Yusin as he faced the task of putting a weak economy on the right track after the Korean War and sought economic growth at the expense of political freedom, Park indicated.

Yusin was a period of time when democracy was repressed and political freedom was abused when the late President ruled the nation. It was named after the Yusin Constitution adopted in 1972, which allowed the late Park to remain in power.

To adopt the new controversial Constitution, the then-leadership dissolved the legislature after declaring a state of national emergency.

Park said a holistic approach, rather than focusing on one aspect of her father’s legacy, was needed to assess the era accurately.

“When we talk about the May 16 military coup, for example, I think that we need to interpret it in an objective manner. We can think about what if I were the leader of this country back then, what choice would I have made to save the country,” she said.

“It occurred nearly four decades ago and still there is controversy about it. I believe interpretation of the coup is in the hands of historians and the people.”

The leading presidential candidate again offered an apology to victims and their families who suffered under her late father’s rule.

Her remarks drew criticism from the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP). During a briefing held at the National Assembly Rep. Jung Sung-ho, a DUP spokesman, said the late President Park destroyed the constitutional order by adopting the Yusin Constitution leading to abuses of human rights.

In a press release, Rep. Moon Jae-in said Rep. Park will need to quit the presidential race if she continues to distort history.

Regarding her former aide’s alleged blackmailing of Ahn Cheol-soo, Park reaffirmed her position that it was a private conversation between two old friends.

“It was hard to understand that the Ahn side attacked after exaggerating the phone conversation. I think what they did was smear politics,” she said.

Last week, Keum Tae-sup, a lawyer working for Ahn disclosed that Jeong June-guil, a former public relations officer of the Park camp, threatened to disclose the Seoul National University professor’s alleged extramarital affair with a woman in her 30s and illicit financial deals if he joins the presidential race.

Jeong countered this by claiming he and Keum are old friends and he wasn’t attempting to blackmail Ahn. Afterwards, he tendered his resignation. <The Korea Times/Kang Hyun-kyung>

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