[Analysis] Park Geun-hye’s leadership challenge

Posted on : 2011-08-12 11:11 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Park’s family links and unwavering principles will be assessed in next year‘s presidential elections

By Seong Han-yong, Senior Staff Writer

  

Can the daughter of a former military dictator who seized power in a coup d’etat serve as president in this era? Will her leadership be authoritarian or democratic?

The underlying factor figuring into general assessments of former Grand National Party (GNP) Chairwoman Park Geun-hye is that she is the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee. For the five years after the death of her mother in 1974, when she was 22, Park served in her mother’s place as First Lady, assisting her father at the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House). When she entered politics in 1997 at the age of 45, she enjoyed the benefits of her status as Park Chung-hee’s daughter.

But over the fourteen years since then, she has established a new identity as a trusted and principled politician. She has succeeded in creating a political style and image all her own, as evidenced by consistently high support ratings in the 30 to 40 percent range in opinion polls on the next presidential election.

Park unquestionably differs from ordinary politicians in certain respects. Foremost among these is her mind-set. She gives the impression of having no concepts of “the individual” or “desire” in her mind - only those of “the state” and “principles.” Her emphasis on the latter borders on frightening.

Generally, politicians like to hear people tell them what it would be in their best interest to do, and what would bring them votes. This is entirely to be expected in light of the nature of the politician, who needs votes to survive. But those who say such things to Park earn a rebuke.

“Even now, when we want to win her over, we have to say, ‘This is the right thing to do,’ rather than ‘This is in your best interest,’” her associates said.

Park even expresses her loathing of the word “strategy,” equating it with “deception.” She has often questioned the need for strategy, arguing that she should simply be herself and allow the people of South Korea to decide. That she objects to artifice and embellishment goes without saying. One time, a politician acquaintance proposed selecting a favorite song and putting it up on a fan cafe. Park rejected the idea, saying, “There isn’t any song that I particularly like.” Her message was that she was not going to do it for show.

Where does this characteristic dislike of personal interest, desire, and greed come from?

An associate said, “I think it is something innate that she got from her father.”

The nationalism of the Park Chung-hee administration was the ruling philosophy for an era. Park Geun-hye served as First Lady for that administration. It may be entirely natural that she would show little indication of the personal or human in her words and actions.

Nationalism may not be a significant problem in and of itself. But charges that Park has been self-righteous in her political leadership are highly significant.

A GNP figure with experience assisting her said, “There is no one more disciplined as an individual. Her dedication, public spirit, emotional control, and verbal restraint are all astonishing. But her leadership is too vertical. This is not an era when a national leader makes decisions in a top-down manner. A person without horizontal leadership capabilities will have a hard time getting elected president, and even if they do they could create problems. And you cannot help talking about her being closed off. Even her associates do not really know Park Geun-hye’s real thoughts. In some sense, it is a similar culture with the Donggyo crowd [surrounding former President Kim Dae-jung] in the way they hang on every word from the boss and watch too closely to see what she is thinking.”

Some witnesses also describe her as being too cold to those in lower positions.

But there is a robust counterargument to claims about her self-righteous leadership, holding that the problem lies not with Park with her associates and dialogue partners.

The nickname “Notebook Princess” has come up frequently among those that say Park is short on knowledge and experience.

An associate explained, “It means that when Park Geun-hye writes something down in her notebook, she makes sure to take care of it later. It is wrong to criticize her as a politician who only looks at her notebook. I suggested to her that she give an explanation. ‘Just leave it alone,’ she said. ‘It’s fine.’”

Park seldom uses blunt speech. She is never found instructing her associates to “Do this.” At most, she will present her opinion and saying, “What do you think about doing it this way?”

She also never uses informal language. The running joke is that the only ones she address in the informal style of Korean are her dog at home and her nephew. This indicates a strong level of consideration for others in her language. At the same time, she is also known for firing her distinctive “laser gaze” at people who say things that displease her.

Park Geun-hye has been a public figure from a young age. After her father became president, she was called “First Daughter.” She became involved in government affairs in her 20s. No other politician has such a record of experience.

During her father’s presidency, Park is known to have brought up areas where she felt the government was doing things wrong, discussing them mainly with her father. People who served as Cheong Wa Dae officials in those days recall this duty as an inheritance from her mother Yuk Young-soo. She was, in a sense, the “opposition party” within the Cheong Wa Dae.

    

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