Opposition lawmaker under fire for Park's parody nude painting

By Park Sae-jin Posted : January 24, 2017, 15:29 Updated : January 24, 2017, 15:29

[Yonhap Photo]

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An opposition lawmaker has been under fire Tuesday for displaying a parody painting in parliament that portrayed South Korea's disgraced President Park Geun-hye in the nude and her jailed crony.

In the lobby of a National Assembly building, the parody composition of "Olympia" by French painter Édouard Manet (1832–1883) and "Sleeping Venus" by Italian painter Giorgione (1477/8–1510) has been on display this week in an exhibition hosted by Pyo Chang-won of the main opposition Democratic Party.

The painting titled "Dirty Sleep" depicted a naked president sleeping in the bed with her crony, Choi Soon-sil, holding a bunch of syringes against the background of a national flag and a sinking ship.

The ruling Saenuri Party has blasted Pyo for insulting and sexually harassing Park, urging the opposition lawmaker to cancel the exhibition. In response, the opposition party agreed to discipline Pyo at its ethics committee and asked parliamentary workers to remove the parody.

Moon Jae-in, an opposition leader and presidential candidate, voiced regret in his Facebook post and said, "Arts and politics are different. While criticism and satire are important in arts, dignity and restraint are important in politics."

Park was impeached by parliament partly for neglecting her duty to supervise a rescue operation in 2014 when a ferry packed with high-school students sank off the southwest coast with the loss of more than 300 lives.

Park's absence for several hours has become an object of public concern and debate, and she has been dogged by rumors that she came late because she was tied up with personal affairs.

The presidential office admitted that Park brought in a hairdresser from outside to have her hair done only for 20 minutes while reading written briefings on the disaster. Unconfirmed reports have suggested that she frequently received beauty shots of unknown nature and unauthorized injections brought in by Choi.
 
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