Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party is going into the presidential battle with a double-edged sword ― the political legacy of her father, former President Park Chung-hee.

It was this conspicuous family background which threw the spotlight on Park when she first entered politics as a 47-year-old novice lawmaker of the then Grand National Party in 1998.

The connection with the controversial national leader also became the Achilles’ heel of the presidential aspirant.

Questions of suspected irregularities or unfair privileges revolve around her family, including the alleged involvement of her brother Ji-man and his wife Seok Hyang-hee in a lobbying scandal at a savings bank.

Opponents also question Ji-man’s company that he was appointed to head in 1989 by the late Park Tae-joon, founder of POSCO. They claim Ji-man may have enjoyed privileges in the lead up to his eventual possession of the company as he made little contribution to the management and he was arrested and indicted six times on drug abuse charges.

Candidate Park has also suffered strained relations with her sister Geun-ryeong, particularly over the management of Yookyoung Foundation, the legacy of their mother. Geun-ryeong’s second husband is currently serving a prison term for spreading rumors online that Park conceded to Ji-man’s move to take Yookyoung Foundation away from Geun-ryeong and that Park attempted to kidnap and kill him.

Another controversy that has been following Park is her questionable relations with late Choi Tae-min, a monk-turned-school dean-turned-pastor. It’s been reported that he had a total of seven names and six marriages. The two worked together on various campaigns after the death of Park’s mother, Yook Young-soo. Park denied any inappropriate relations with him saying Choi was one of many that consoled her upon losing her mother. Choi was investigated by the intelligence agency in the late 1970s for allegedly exercising rights to various privileges using Park’s name.

The weakest point for Park, meanwhile, is the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation, where she served as the chairman of the board from 1995 to 2005. Opponents claim the foundation was set up by Park Chung-hee forcibly taking properties of late businessman Kim Ji-tae. Park’s side has countered the foundation was voluntarily offered by Kim who had faced illegal accumulation of wealth charges. Opponents claim Park still has influence over the organization that is currently led by Choi Phil-lip, a close confidant of both the father and daughter.

Park is now faced with mounting pressure, even from within her own camp, to admit the errors of her father’s military dictatorship and to offer a clear apology to the descendents of those sacrificed under his highhanded rule.

Back in July, she stirred controversy by saying that the May 16 coup, through which her father usurped power, was an “inevitable choice for the sake of the country’s development.”

The public became all the more convinced that the lawmaker was advocating the controversial 18-year reign, when she expressed earlier this month an ambiguous stance on the execution of eight allegedly pro-communist activists in 1975, referred to as the Inhyukdang case. The ruling was overturned by the Seoul Central District Court in 2007.

Park pointing out that there were “two verdicts” during a radio interview caused uproar, and she was accused of condoning the “judicial murder” and overlooking the legal system.

“The issue should be left for history to judge,” has been as far as she was willing to say on the disputed topics.

Mindful of the voters turning away from her upon such remarks, Park said Friday she will soon organize her thoughts and make them known at an appropriate time.

Her dilemma is that speaking against her father’s legacy could push away conservative loyalists, especially elderly voters who feel nostalgia for his leadership.

The consumptive historic debate placed Park in a stalemate over the past few weeks, despite having had nearly a whole month ahead of her competitors Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party and independent Ahn Cheol-soo. She made little progress in her approval ratings during the period.

She now risks being outrun by her rivals, unless she expands her leverage beyond the traditional right-wing support base to relatively neutral voters.

To achieve this goal, however, Park has to overcome her public image as an uncommunicative and dogmatic politician.

Well aware of her weaknesses, the candidate made active gestures to reach out to progressive, underprivileged and younger voters such as by paying respect at the graves of former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. But the effort has been overshadowed by consecutive funding scandals involving her close aides.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)