Former President Park Geun-hye, once dubbed the "Queen of Elections," is increasingly invoking her father, the late President Park Chung-hee, as she campaigns for People Power Party (PPP) candidates ahead of the June 3 local elections. The strategy aims to rally a fractured conservative base by stirring nostalgia for the former president.
Park visited Ulsan on Wednesday to support Kim Doo-kyum, the PPP candidate for Ulsan mayor. "I believe Ulsan is the very fruit of my father's efforts to build a prosperous nation," she said, urging voters to back Kim and Kim Tae-kyu, the PPP candidate in the Ulsan Nam-gu A parliamentary by-election.
During her campaign swing through North Chungcheong Province, Park visited the birthplace of her late mother, Yuk Young-soo, where she highlighted the industrialization achievements of the Park Chung-hee administration. "Due to my schedule, I could not visit my father's birthplace, so I came to my mother's," she said on Sunday. "Whenever I come here, I always feel as though I am meeting my parents. Many people worked hard so that we could live as we do today, and I believe their efforts must not be in vain." Kim Young-hwan, the PPP candidate for North Chungcheong governor, was among those who joined her.
In Busan, Park recalled the deployment of Korean troops to Vietnam under the Park Chung-hee administration as she referred to the father of Park Min-sik, the PPP candidate for Busan Buk-gu A. "Candidate Park's father was killed in action during the Vietnam War," she said. "If you give Candidate Park a chance, he will defend the country well. Please give our candidate Park Min-sik an opportunity to serve."
The Democratic Party sharply criticized Park's continued campaign appearances. "A president who was impeached through the people's candlelight revolution is still walking around without a sense of shame," Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rai said. "Watching the People Power Party deploy someone who lost the presidency to campaign, I think it is no wonder they are called an insurrection-defending party and a 'Yoon Again' party."
He added, "To the People Power Party, which is still showing such regressive behavior — to the point that one wonders whether this is nomination for insurrection or insurrection for nomination — the people will deliver a stern judgment with the same spirit that overcame the martial law insurrection."
