hankyoreh

A president who is simple and modest, a president who doesn’t use a single cent of taxpayers’ money frivolously, a president who doesn’t spend much money on her own health or appearance - that seems to be the impression that the Blue House would like the public to have of President Park Geun-hye. Unfortunately, the image presented by the Blue House is quite different from Park’s actual lifestyle.

In the controversy about the Blue House’s purchase of expensive fitness equipment and its hiring of a famous fitness trainer for the Blue House administrative building, it becomes evident that the Blue House is seriously obsessed with image control. If it had just honestly admitted the facts from the beginning, the public would likely have given it the benefit of the doubt and moved on. But instead, the Blue House felt obliged to conceal the facts, lie about them, and come up with awkward justifications.

According to documents that the Public Procurement Service provided the National Assembly during the parliamentary audit, the imported fitness machines that were bought for 88 million won (US$80,660) are located in the Blue House’s Main Building - which is also the location of the president’s office. This material shows that the fitness machines are for the exclusive use of the president, confirming expectations.

Despite this, Blue House Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon feigned innocence during the general meeting of the National Assembly‘s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on Nov. 6. Throughout the meeting, Kim insisted that the fitness machines were moved around for use in various locations and that employees and reporters were also able to enter the Main Building if they needed to.

Even more ridiculous is the way the Blue House brings up the security and protection of the president at every possible opportunity.

It is highly unlikely that security professionals would think that the president’s life would be jeopardized if it became public knowledge that she is using fitness equipment to get in shape.

The fact that the Blue House keeps emphasizing her protection and safety in spite of this is a blatant attempt to exploit the vague respect with which ordinary people view the president‘s secret service. In reality, this has nothing to do with protecting the president’s safety, but rather with protecting her feelings.

On Thursday, Kim Ki-choon said that it was “inappropriate” for the Public Procurement Service to submit documents related to the president’s safety.

The sight of public officials at the agency - including its director - belatedly rushing around in an attempt to recover documents on the subject it had already submitted to the opposition party suggests that an affront to Her Majesty could lead to arbitrary personnel reassignments at the agency.

The Blue House’s obsession with presenting Park as a president without any faults is already apparent in every aspect of the government. The Blue House’s dedication to hiding or finding a way to justify Park’s mistakes and errors is leading to problems in running the country. This is why we cannot simply overlook the fuss about the expensive fitness equipment as just being a “white lie” by the Blue House.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]