Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Sung-Yoon Lee and Mme Park (He is on the left) I received a nice thank you note from Sung-Yoon Lee for hosting him on the 8th, 9th, and 10th. It was fun to see his excitement about Mme Park's visit. As for the visit that I had memtioned to you by Mme. Park of South Korea, a leading presidential candidate for the election in December of this year, it was a busy and stressful day, but one that ended well and was for me personally quite memorable. I spent the entire day with her (and her big entourage, including 19 reporters form South Korea!), serving as interpreter, as she visied the Kennedy Library in Boston in the morning, and met with Harvard officials and students in the afternoon. It was a rare opportunity to shadow a leading presidential candidate with a disposition quite contrary to the incumbent pro-communist South Korean president. When Mme Park lost her mother to a North Korean assassin in 1974, she was only twenty-two, but all of a sudden thrust into the role of first-lady. I suppose she was groomed at a young age for the role she now assumes as well as that which she ultimately seeks. She exuded natural warm charisma. Everyone was charmed, even a friend and colleague of mine who hates her father, former President Park Chung Hee, and practically told her so to her face at dinner. I will certainly follow the South Korean elections with increased personal interest thanks to the Alaska World Affairs Council. 10:44:52 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2007 Nancy B. King. Last update: 3/14/07; 10:27:52 PM.

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