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On Thursday, President Yoon Suk-yeol attended a memorial service for former President Park Chung-hee, where he said that “the spirit of Park Chung-hee and the feats he achieved should be memorialized and used as a stepping stone for South Korea’s launch forward once again.”

This is the first time an incumbent president attended a memorial service for Park Chung-hee.

Although Yoon has been calling for “change” and “communication” from his advisors, the ruling party, and government officials ever since the ruling party’s crushing defeat in the Gangseo District mayoral by-election on Oct. 11, he himself appears to be concentrating on looking after those on his side and unifying conservatives.

Attending a memorial service marking the 44th anniversary of Park Chung-hee’s death organized by the National Rejuvenation Society at Seoul National Cemetery in the Dongjak District of Seoul, Yoon remarked, “As we are gathered here today to commemorate Park Chung-hee, who achieved the great feat of industrialization through his love and passion for his country, we must learn from his insights, resolution and courage.”

Yoon had made his way to the memorial service hall a mere two hours after touching down in Korea following his trip to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The memorial service was attended by many key figures from the ruling camp, such as former President Park Geun-hye, People Power Party (PPP) leader Kim Gi-hyeon, and PPP innovation committee chair John Linton.

Yoon and Park Geun-hye met for the first time in 17 months since May of last year.

In his speech commemorating Park Chung-hee, Yoon said, “Since my inauguration, I’ve met leaders of 92 countries around the world and discussed economic cooperation with them. They were all envious of the compressed growth Park Chung-hee accomplished and expressed their respect for his decisive leadership,” adding, “I always stressed to them that compressed growth could be guaranteed by studying Park Chung-hee.”

Following the service, Yoon and Park Geun-hye paid their respects at Park Chung-hee’s grave side by side.

Yoon’s attendance at the memorial service was most likely motivated by a sense of crisis from signs of declining support in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. On Oct. 20, Gallup Korea announced that a poll of 1,000 adults across the country showed Yoon’s disapproval rating (48%) to surpass his approval rating (45%) in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. This survey had a confidence level of 95% and a sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Conservatives have keenly watched the relationship between Park Geun-hye and Yoon, a prosecutor who investigated the political scandal Park Geun-hye was involved in. Amid dwindling approval, some estimate that Yoon met with Park Geun-hye in order to send a message of unity to conservatives.

“[Yoon’s move] can be seen as one of conservative unity in the smaller picture, but in the bigger picture, it’s one of public unity,” an official from the presidential office stated. “[Yoon’s] determination to listen to the public’s story is still the same.”

Yoon’s attendance at the memorial service for Park Chung-hee was in stark contrast to his decision to not attend the public commemoration rally marking the one-year anniversary of the Itaewon crowd crush to be held at Seoul Plaza on Sunday. Citing the fact that it is being co-organized by four opposition parties including the Democratic Party, the presidential office said the rally has “degenerated into a political demonstration,” stating that it would consider releasing a separate message of remembrance on a different schedule.

Regarding this, the Oct. 29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and People for Itaewon Disaster responded, “A public commemoration rally is not a political space,” adding, “We respectfully invite the president once again.”

Yong In University political science professor Choi Chang-ryul commented, “Before talking about a political demonstration, [Yoon] should have genuinely consoled mourning bereaved families’ and taken action, but there was no such thing. The fact that [Yoon] went to a former president’s memorial service instead demonstrates that his perception hasn’t changed.”

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter; Sun Dam-eun, staff reporter

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