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By Park Hyun-chul, staff reporter

As December’s presidential election draws near, New Frontier Party candidate Park Geun-hye looks like a strong front-runner. But according to a recent survey, the stronger her lead becomes, people seem to have a more negative view of her father’s legacies. Park Geun-hye is the eldest daughter of late President Park Chung-hee. Park assumed the duties of First Lady after her mother’s death in 1974 and until her father’s death in 1979.

The Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (IPUS) on Sept. 7 surveyed 1200 citizens nationwide. The survey has been conducted annually for the past five years as a series of face to face interviews. This year 78.3% of those surveyed responded “positive” about the accomplishments of former President Park Chung-hee. This is a slight decrease from the average percentage of the past five years, which was 80%. The institute pointed out that the average of those that responded “very positive” to the question was 30%, but this year it was 24%. Meanwhile, the average of those that responded “negative” over the five years was 10%, but this number increased to 15.2% in this year’s survey.

Also in assessing the legacies of the late President Park, like his May 16th coup d’etat (by which he seized power) and his October Yushin system (his measure to legitimize the prolongation of power), fewer people responded “positive”. Over the past five years, an average of 51% responded “positive” to the May 16 coup d’etat, but this year, 43.1% shared this sentiment. Also 35% responded “positive” about the October Yushin over the past five years, but 26.5% felt the same this year.

As for generational differences, those in their 40’s and 50’s have switched their opinions the most. For instance, there were more people over 50 who had a “negative” opinion of the coup and also the Yushin policy than before. In last year’s survey, 23.2% responded “negative” about the May 16th coup d’etat; this increased to 36.5% this year. Opinion on the October Yushin also became more “negative.” Last year, 41.1% responded “negative” about Yushin; this year the “negative” response was 56.7%. Also, people in their 40’s showed similar opinion changes on Yushin. In last year’s survey, the number was 44.6%; this year the number rose to 53.7%.

A researcher at the IPUS said that people’s assessment of other historical events like the April 19th Revolution, the Gwangju Democratization Movement, or the June Resistance Movement had not changed much. The analysis is that “the emergence of Park Geun-hye as a presidential candidate is shining the spotlight on the Park Chung-hee era, which is bringing about opinion changes.” The IPUS said that the results of the survey will be made public at a symposium to be held by the institute on September 26.

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