[Opinion] Wife and Daughter-in-Law of Wealthy Families

The two most talked-about issues now in town are about a wife of a wealthy man and a daughter-in-law. Whether it is in a formal situation or in a casual one involving some drinking, these issues appear just about anywhere and stimulate people’s curiosity. Since I work with the press, I often draw people’s attention when I speak about different issues. But it is always impossible to beat those “newsmongers in town” who talk as if they have witnessed the stories themselves. It is simply impossible to beat their ability to acquire information and spread news. Some time ago when a CEO of a large corporation in Korea was going through troubles in public, domestic differences were discussed to be the cause of the investigation. There was also a rumor that a famous actress in Korea was presented to a North Korean official in high power.

The two widely talked-about topics are surely worth the audience value. First of all, it involves talking about the object of envy and jealousy among any and all commoners: a wealthy family. The “actors” here include a CEO of one of the top ten companies in Korea and a young heir to a large corporation in Korea. The “actresses” include a top singer who had her heyday during 1960s and 1970s and a top TV actress who dominated in the 1990s. What a great casting! The wife of the CEO -- who was abandoned by her husband and his family -- revealed daring details about the CEO’s affairs with various Korean top stars through her recent biography, which is causing a great sensation already. The former TV actress, now a wife of an heir to huge fortune, has been in the talks of people after she was involved in a luxurious imported car robbery near a river in the middle of the night.

Throughout the world, in the East or in the West, marriage between a man of wealth and a woman of beauty was a symbiotic union. A man of wealth wins a woman of beauty and talents with generous investment in her and shows off his power. A woman of beauty needs a man of wealth to satisfy her desires as well as to support her continuously. However, for these cases, was it not more of coveting the money and the beauty of the others rather than acting as a wife or a husband? One of the most well-known ship owners in the world, Aristotle Onassis (1906~1975), had an affair with a famous opera singer Maria Callas and emerged as a cultural mogul. With that reputation, he was able to marry Jacqueline Bouvier -- widow of the late President of the United States, John F. Kennedy -- and thus entered the high society of the U.S.

Marriage between a rich man and a beautiful woman is portrayed as a union of a “prince charming” and a “Cinderella.” However, it was never known as to what happened after Cinderella had grown old and lost her youth and beauty. The prince must have become a king of a country, but Cinderella could have been withdrawn from her position by some other Cinderella –- one who is still youthful and beautiful and hardly lived a life of pain or solitude -- somewhere in the back of the story. The union of material wealth and a body without love can not last long enough to face old age. It is because winning a beautiful woman in such manners is an act of ostentation for a wealthy man and because a wealthy man is just a supporter for a woman’s desires.

Editorial Writer Oh Myeong-chul, oscar@donga.com