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It is all the more so considering that Park was a prominent human rights lawyer, advocate for women's rights and reform-minded mayor of the country's capital.
It appeared that Park took his own life because he could not come to terms with his conflicting identities which seem to contradict the moral high ground he stood upon and his notable lifelong achievements.
His death reminds me of that of former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun. About one year after his retirement in 2008, Roh killed himself amid an intensifying investigation into suspicions that he and his family took illegal funds from a businessman.
The late president certainly never wanted to live in shame. He had no courage to betray himself and admit his alleged bribe-taking. He could not afford to bridge the yawning gulf between what he used to be ― a Mr. Clean ― and what he would become ― a corrupt former politician.
Another similar politician was Rep. Roh Hoi-chan, former floor leader of the progressive minor opposition Justice Party, who killed himself over bribery allegations in July 2018. He had spearheaded a campaign for clean politics, but brought his life to a tragic end in the face of graft charges.
What those politicians had in common was a double standard. They had long called for justice, fairness and equality. Regrettably, however, they compromised what they held dear. They must have struggled between their lofty ideals and earthly desires. But they finally yielded to the latter, much to the disappointment of the public.
The three politicians were certainly unable to deceive themselves over their alleged wrongdoing and misconduct in the end. The wider the gap between what they advocated for and what they actually did, the more difficult it became to reconcile themselves over their self-contradictory behavior. In such a case, hardly anyone could avoid a catastrophic end.
Now I am wondering why liberal or progressive politicians were more prone to suicide than conservative ones. Liberals and progressives have usually claimed to be on higher moral ground; more than others have. They have played a crucial role of fighting dictatorship, leading pro-democracy movements and bringing about tremendous socioeconomic transformation in the past decades.
They, of course, deserve praise for what they have done for our society and nation. But some of them have proven that their actions belied their words. They have also become too self-righteous and arrogant to accept other people's criticism for their blunders.
A case in point is a corruption scandal involving Cho Kuk, a former presidential secretary for civil affairs and justice minister. Cho, a confidant of President Moon Jae-in, was appointed to lead the Ministry of Justice in September 2019. But he had to resign within 35 days over allegations brought against his family concerning school admissions fraud related to his daughter and illegal investment by his wife.
Cho, a law professor at Seoul National University, is part of Korean society's elite and once belonged to the inner circle of the Moon Jae-in administration. But this scandal has revealed his hypocrisy. Cho had often been described as a "Gangnam leftist," a term for a liberal living in the affluent southern part of Seoul. Now he is cynically called a self-serving champagne socialist or latte liberal.
Were Mayor Park still alive, he could not have avoided being labeled similarly. The late mayor, a member of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and a presidential hopeful, had been widely recognized as a civic activist championing rights of women, the socially weak and the poor.
But now he is suspected of having acted quite differently because he was found dead two days after one of his former secretaries filed a complaint with the police alleging she had been sexually harassed by him.
The complainant accused Park of having sexually harassed her for four years. She tried reporting her case to the municipal authorities, but they ignored her pleas for help. They even reportedly tried to cover up Park's alleged sexual misconduct. City officials even told her that female secretaries should "entertain" the mayor.
Shamefully, Park has become the third head of a local government to face sexual harassment allegations, following former South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung and former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don. An is now serving a prison term for sexually assaulting his secretary. Oh stepped down as mayor of the country's second-largest city in April after admitting that he sexually exploited a female employee.
Now the question is why such shocking sexual harassment scandals have continued to take place since An prompted one of the biggest #MeToo cases in Korea in 2018. The answer could be that mayors and governors wield unchecked power. In this sense, sexual abuse is one form of power abuse. The country can never win a war on sexual harassment without checking such power.
The writer (byb@koreatimes.co.kr) is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times.
