Statue of Park Chung-hee and failure of Park Geun-hye

Three years after the May 16 military coup, 37 life-size plaster figures lined up at the greenbelt between Namdaemun and the former Capitol building in Seoul. The figures were designated as ancient Korean patriots by the then 38-year-old Chairman of the Democratic Republican Party Kim Jong-pil. The plasters portrayed from Gen. Eulji Mundeok of the Goguryeo Dynasty, to Kim Gu, the president of the Provisional Government. Nonetheless, the plasters degenerated within just two months due to the storm, and ruining its colors and shapes roughly plastered by undergraduates of Seoul National University, Ewha Womans University, Hongik University, and Seorabeol Arts College. The figures eventually disappeared amid high demands from the public to be pulled down.

Four years after the demolition, an 18-meter high statue of Adm. Yi Sun-sin of the Joseon Dynasty reappeared on the Sejongro in central Seoul in 1968. Led by Kim Jong-pil who was appointed as "Commissioner of Ancient Patriot Foundation," the statue was funded by the then President Park Chung-hee. While the president's order was to select the "most fearsome figure to Japan," the statue was mainly intended to encourage the public to concentrate their efforts on modernization of Korea. Until now, the statue is fiercely debated due to its inaccurate historical research.

Former Prime Minister Kim claimed that now is the time to erect statues of Presidents Rhee Syng-man and Park Chung-hee behind the seated King Sejong the Great at the Gwanghwamun Plaza. Kim's argument is that once the figures of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Byung-chul and Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Ju-yung are included in the collection, the erection can complete a line-up of founding fathers and major figures of Korean modernization. In addition, the "Commemoration Commission on the 100th anniversary of President Park Chung-hee" was launched on Wednesday to erect a statute of former President Park at the Gwanghwamun Plaza. The commission aims to promote 2017 as the first year of the "Park Chung-hee Movement" in line with the distribution of national history textbook, which shed positive light on the centennial anniversary of Park and the modern Korean history.

As the head of the commission stands, former Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said that our nation has to overcome the reality that Korea cannot be free from harsh criticisms on erecting the great President Park Chung-hee." Despite his accomplishments in economic development, the late President Park is also not free from his long dictatorship. Moreover, he is faced with massive burdens on the re-eval‎uation of his reputation, as his "2.0 version" or the incumbent President Park Geun-hye who is forced to resign due to creating the "Choi Soon-sil Gate." Indeed, it is an irony that the failure of President Park's failure is igniting oppositions against erecting her father's statue.

이진기자 leej@donga.com