Park’s repudiation of trial, human rights abuse claims aim at her support base

Posted on : 2017-10-20 17:50 KST Modified on : 2017-10-20 17:50 KST
Her public opinion campaign designed to manufacture sympathy appears to be misguided
CNN reported on Oct. 17 that the legal team of former president Park Geun-hye plans to submit allegations of human right abuse to the UN Human Rights Council concerning her treatment in jail. (Yonhap News)
CNN reported on Oct. 17 that the legal team of former president Park Geun-hye plans to submit allegations of human right abuse to the UN Human Rights Council concerning her treatment in jail. (Yonhap News)

A “Park Geun-hye-brand” political battle has begun. After previously repudiating her trial itself as “political retaliation in the name of the ‘rule of law’” amid predictions of a heavy sentence, she has now taken to cosplaying as a “prisoner of conscience” suffering political persecution, spreading false and distorted claims to the global community through CNN describing herself as facing “human rights abuses.” Her response to pressure to leave the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) carries a hint of her characteristic brand of coldness, sending a message of “If you’re so confident, go ahead and sell me out.” With it, she seems to be saying she prefers to be expelled rather than bow to the “politics of betrayal” and leave on her own.

Back when she was a powerful politician and during her presidency, Park treated “principles and trust” as her political brand. Some saw it as a sign of her resolute political determination; others criticized it as “inexplicable stubbornness.” While she was President, she resolutely shunned the idea of bowing to public opinion or political pressure and making a decision that differed from her own. The obstinacy was an approach that targeted the political demands of her three main support bases: dyed-in-the-wool conservatives, Daegu/Gyeongsang Province residents, and voters aged 60 and over.

Her repudiation of the trial and refusal to leave her party have had the effect of rallying key supporters, who are used to Park’s brand of politics. False claims attributed to the UN Commission on Human Rights and other international institutions have been rapidly spreading among older conservatives in particular, fanning the flames of the “sympathy” narrative.

Pro-Park and right-wing groups have issued a “full-scale mobilization order” for large-scale anti-government demonstrations over the weekend. A “Taegukgi rally” in downtown on Saturday, Oct. 21, is expected to draw over 7,000 people, which observers say could make it the largest demonstration since the Moon Jae-in administration took office. It’s an approach that encourages LKP members to object to their own party’s attempt to oust Park, while also limiting the party’s political options ahead of next year’s local elections.

Once a final ruling comes out around midway through the Moon administration, it could serve as a rationale for conservatives to demand a pardon.

Many legal experts are describing the situation as “manufactured” by conservative groups that have been able to interact with members of Park’s legal team and overseas groups. It all began to unfold in orderly, almost pre-scripted fashion shortly after Park announced her “boycott” of the trial on Oct. 16.

Some international law experts are saying Park’s “UN petition” is also likely to be a pre-orchestrated part of the public opinion campaign. An advertisement bearing the same content as the petition, which was reportedly submitted by the MH Group, was published in the Sept. 27 edition of the Chosun Ilbo under the same group’s name – indicating that someone is funding the advertisements domestically. It also differs only in the use of foreign lawyers from the approach adopted back in March by Lee Gyeong-jae, attorney for Park’s government interference accomplice Choi Soon-sil, when he submitted a petition to the UN Human Rights Council claiming his client’s human rights were being “violated” by the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors.

“This ‘MH Group’ doesn’t appear to even have a full understanding of UN petition procedures or the likelihood of [the petition] being accepted, and the petition text is extremely poor by international law standards,” said a government official familiar with UN human rights-related duties.

“You get the sense this is 100% a show for the media,” the official added.

Translations of the petition have been circulated by the conservative-leaning Vietnam Veterans' Association of Korea and the far-right website Ilbe.

With her “advisory group” gone, Park may be making missteps in her return to the “lone wolf” frame from before her 1998 entry into politics.

“You can’t really expect her to make the right decisions now that she’s cut off from any advice,” a conservative party lawmaker suggested on Oct. 19.

One possibility is that Park, whose decisions during her presidency seemed to diverge from common sense, did not expect her arrest warrant to be extended. In other words, her real situation may not have been objectively communicated to her as a client by Yu Yeong-ha, the attorney she relies on completely. Some analysts are raising the possibility her recent actions may have been influenced by a faulty or lacking understanding of the judiciary, as witnessed in her statements about “two verdicts” in the People’s Revolutionary Party cases. These referred to two trials in the 1960s and 1970s when the Park Chung-hee regime used the anti-Communism Law and later the National Security Act to arrest and execute a number of individuals accused of plotting against the government.

By Kim Nam-il and Hong Seok-jae, staff reporters

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