Nothing like a little election year Jap-baiting.
Speaking with party members in Daegu, Uri Party chief Kim Geun-tae took former GNP chairwoman and potential GNP presidential candidate Park Geun-hye to task for admittedly asinine comments she made regarding the recent decision by a Seoul court to posthumously clear the eight South Koreans executed in 1975 as North Korean agents.
When the decision was handed down, Park said the execution orders were handed down in accordance with the law at the time, and the decision to clear them was also in accordance with the law, so it would be left to history to decide which one was correct.
Kim demanded that Park take back her comment.
But he didn’t stop there.
He suggested that her attitude was the result of her being the daughter of a Jap-lover:
The Japanese imperialists are refusing to acknowledge their crimes against humanity, claiming that the comfort women where taken through a legal process… Since former President Park Chung-hee was former Japanese military, I think it’s possible that he didn’t acknowledge the imperialism and the comfort women of the past. So isn’t [Park Geun-hye's attitude] the way it is because she’s his daughter?
Nice. Might I suggest, therefore, that Kim’s attitudes—evidenced by his little dance in Kaesong just one week after North Korea tested a nuclear device—could be linked to the fact that his three older brothers might have defected to North Korea* during the Korean War? Oh, right… that’s red-baiting and McCarthyism.
I understand that Park’s family history is a legitimate target since her political support is in large part derived from her being late President Park’s daughter. Some subtlety is required, however, and Kim shouldn’t be the one making those kinds of attacks unless he wants the GNP, Chosun Ilbo, et. al. to be asking him where his three brothers are everyday between now and the December election.
*Kim admits that his brothers disappeared, but he adds that it’s yet unconfirmed that they defected to the North.
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13 Comments
Be very scared if you think Korean leadership can’t get any worse than Roh. With the likes of Kim Geun-tae, the ROK might as well just skip the middleman and surrender to Kim Jong-il.
Lt. Okamoto’s daughter should never become President of South Korea. Neither should Kim Geun Tae.
Everything will become good when Lee Myung Bak becomes President.
Myung Bak served jail time for protesting against Lt. Okamoto’s unilateral decision to excuse Japan from personal compensation towards inviduals in the 1960s treaty. Lt. Okamoto lovers can claim Okamoto was elected many times by popular vote, but any objective person will confirm that all of Okamoto’s victories were fixed. What is offensive to this day is that Japan seeked a quick fix and shifting of responsiblities for its duties in the future. Japan and Lt. Okamoto deserve blame.
Muslim Americans who enjoy the fruits of Democracy in the US, love to say that Democracy is not for everybody. They vote in the US, but they don’t want their brethren back home voting. Selfish.
After reading around a little, I discovered, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore had similar dictatorships and similar economic growths. None of these were communists, however. In the Far East, military dictatorships have prevented communism and transitioned into democracy. Very Japanese. I think South Korea could have done without Lt. Okamoto, and done good enough with Yoon Bo Sun. Although, it’s speculative.
I once saw a TV talk show on the daily routines of Park Geun Hye. A very classy and humble lady she is. It’s unfair that she has to pay for her father’s sins, but one thing that she did inherit from her father is frugality. Her home is a tiny old house full of memorial items of her late father. I think Korea needs a bit of woman’s touch.. and enough of the good old boys with big egos and who deal in the back rooms.
Lt. Okamoto was frugal?
How did Okamoto’s son, who spent the majority of his years on drugs, end up being a head of a company?
You mean Okamoto was a hording theif.
like all South Korean Presidents so far.
It is well known that Park was indeed very frugal, particularly for the leader of a country. I see no reason to punish the daughter for the sins – real and imagined – of the father (although that’s more popular a few miles north).
I suppose Chun Doo Hwan and Kim Dae Jung were frugal, too, then. They saved up a lot to ensure their modest livings would benefit not only them but their sons and grandsons and their sons, and on and on.
In fairness to Kim Gun Tae, he probably was on a government list. His name was probably Red Lined. Denying him opportunities in certain desirable jobs, schools, etc. Not only him, but his near relatives, wife, son, daughter. Park Geun Hye suffered no such things, but actually was upheld and treated like the heir of a great king. Park presents no ideas of her own. She’s literally the front face of old Han Nara faces, who tell her what to do, give her ideas, etc. What about her brother? Most people’s lives are ruined when you go to jail for doing drugs in South Korea. Not for Lt. Okamoto’s son. Why, he’s now a corporate executive. Do you realize this is Okamoto’s son? And now he is rearing Lt. Okamoto’s grandson? Some precious bloodlines to be catered to ! Anyway, I think Lee Myung Bak is the right and the best choice, no matter how you look at it.
Kim Geun-tae is obviously a moron, although Park’s inability to acknowledge the failings of her father doesn’t help the country either. Hopefully neither of them will make it to the Blue House.
Park should not run.
She cannot exorcise the ghost of her father, who have done many evil things- including fixing the constitution of Korea to get elected the third time.
Park may not be the best to take over but she would still be a million times better than any commie.
Whether it is Kim and Park attacking one another over genetic predisposition to being a Japanophile or North Korean sleeper, or Lee Myung Bak and Park (again!) going at it over a failure to serve in the military and failure to pop out children (respectively, of course) it is as juvenile as it is mean-spirited. I feel marginally better - not a lot, but a little - about the maturity level of politicians in America or Canada when I read shit like this. (I can’t recall Presidential debates or leadership convention focusing on family stuff in particular.)
wjk, I may be wrong, but I think Park/Okamoto was supposed to be quite frugal. Ruthless, undemocratic, and former Japanese officer yes, but I thief I’m not sure. I’m sure his kids have benefited in ways - and, in some cases, suffered - from being his children, but he was not known to have amassed a fortune in the billions of won like Chun and his school junior/successor to the presidency.
I do remember reading about KDJ’s youngest son’s $ 900 000 + home in Rolling Hills Estates, CA, I think it was, and that he was making no more than 30 Gs/year at the time. Don’t know what came of that, but it didn’t look too great at the time.
A country gets the government they deserve.
it deserves