Park Geun-hye: The rose of Sharon blooming in despair will eventually reveal the truth
Park Geun-hye's name was chosen by Park Chung-hee, his wife and her aunt together, leafing through a dictionary and taking considerable effort. Park Chung-hee believed that "Geun" represented not only the national flower of South Korea, the "mugunghwa (rose of Sharon)," but also carried the meaning of "nation"; "hye" symbolized "grace."
Park Geun-hye once said that at her saddest and most desperate moments, she read Mr. Feng Youlan's "History of Chinese Philosophy" and drew strength from it. This female president, who always wore a smile. She was gentle on the outside but firm within, which also accorded well with the essence of Chinese philosophy: inwardly sage, outwardly king.
I. The First Family in the Blue House
Living in the Blue House, for the young Park Geun-hye, actually made her life more restricted and dreary; her mother disciplined her more strictly and did not allow special treatment. Park Geun-hye loved reading from a young age, and her schoolwork was always excellent. As the eldest daughter, she was always her parents' pride.
II. Life After Her Parents' Assassinations
When her mother was killed, Park Geun-hye was studying in France, and this sudden terrible news disrupted her life plans. Park Geun-hye then took over her mother's duties as "First Lady" and became her father's capable assistant. A strong sense of mission and her mother's past achievements kept her from slacking off, and she worked herself to the bone, because "a busy bee has no time for sorrow."
Her father's assassination was an even greater blow, and she nearly cried her tears dry. Park Geun-hye had no choice but to take her younger brother and sister and leave the Blue House, beginning more than ten years of a reclusive life. The pain of losing both parents, and the cruel betrayal by people she had once trusted for the sake of power, made her taste every aspect of the world, and also taught her to cherish those who were sincere at heart.
III. Her Life's Faith
When slander and rumors about her father were swirling, many people urged her to leave, but she insisted on staying in South Korea, because her feelings for this land were too deep.
Even during her reclusive years she never stopped studying, reading newspapers, and always maintaining a high level of attention to the country. When the people began to miss the economic prosperity of the Park Chung-hee era during the "Asian Economic Crisis," Park Geun-hye returned to politics. This was Park Geun-hye's original aspiration and mission to live for the country and the people.
Park Geun-hye's spirit was very much like South Korea's national flower, the rose of Sharon: resilient, plain, eternal and beautiful. The rose of Sharon blooms in the morning and falls at dusk, but each withering is for the sake of a next, even more brilliant blooming.