[Aju News DB]
The time required for President Park Geun-hye's hairdo has become a new political football following news reports that she was tied up with personal grooming and neglected her duty to supervise a crucial rescue operation in the sinking of a ferry packed with high-school students in 2014.
The ill-fated Sewol ferry sank off the southwest coast on April 16, 2014, with the loss of more than 300 lives. Park has been dogged by persistent rumors that she was not in her office for seven hours during the disaster.
The disaster -- blamed on the ship's illegal redesign and overloading left unchecked by regulators -- prompted calls to overhaul the nation's lax safety standards. Government officials and coastguard authorities were criticized for failing to take quick steps.
Despite her repeated denials, unconfirmed reports have suggested Park took command late because she received plastic surgery, or was involved in personal affairs.
Fresh allegations surfaced on Tuesday when Hankyoreh, a Seoul-based newspaper, reported that Park wasted more than 90 minutes getting her hair done by a prominent beauty parlor owner while a frantic rescue operation was under way. Two major TV stations followed suit with similar reports.
In an unusually quick response, the presidential Blue House admitted that Park brought in a hairdresser from outside to have her hair done only for 20 minutes in her residence while reading written briefings on the ferry disaster.
Park, who took office in early 2013 as South Korea's first female president, has two contract-based people who are staying outside but can see the president almost every day for her hairdo and makeup, the office said in a statement. The Blue House has insisted Park carried her duty normally at that time and received briefings 15 times from aides, calling for an end to malicious and libelous reports and allegations.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
