Kim In-cheol, 75, remembers when he barely managed to feed himself in the war-torn country back in the ’60s.

Kim, who was in his late 20s at the time, said he was leading a life that didn’t seem worth living, stressing that it was too painful for him to bring back the bitter memories from the past.

Then he brought up a name: Park Chung-hee. Kim called him a “founding leader,” who rebuilt South Korea and transformed the impoverished nation into one of the most advanced countries in the world.

Despite debated views on the military strongman who ruled the nation with an iron fist for 18 years, Kim said he believed Park was “the one” who opened the future for his children.

“I feel delighted as if I am seeing him alive and having a life in this house with his family,” said Kim in the front yard of Park’s old residence in Sindang-dong, central Seoul.

Kim is one of hundreds of people who queued up to visit the old red-roofed home where Park and his family including his daughter Park Geun-hye, the current president, lived between 1958 and 1961. The family left the house when Park took over the government through a military coup.

The house, 129 square meters, has been open for public viewing since last month as part of Seoul city’s cultural experience program. Although it admits only 15 persons per session through online reservations, the area is crowded with people wanting to get a glimpse into the former authoritarian ruler’s ordinary life.

The house, owned by the Yookyoung Foundation, was registered as the city’s cultural heritage site in 2008. The Seoul city government recently recreated the house citing its historic value. It represents the housing culture in the 1930s that added Western and Japanese architectural styles to the existing structure of hanok, the traditional Korean house.

The three-bedroom residence is equipped with a modernized parlor and kitchen decorated with various items from the 1960s to best reproduce the residential life of the Parks ― based on testimonials and media reports.

Family photographs are displayed, including young Park Geun-hye playing the piano with her younger sister Geun-ryeong. Park Geun-hye was 6 when the family lived in the house. She returned to the Sindang-dong house in 1979 from Cheong Wa Dae, after she lost both parents at the hands of assassins. She left a year later to live by herself, according to reports.

The city also recreated the then-Major Gen. Park’s study ― the very location where he plotted the May 16 coup that eventually allowed himself to become the dictatorial president of the country.

“He was a man who dedicated his whole life to the country’s prosperity, and I deeply respect that,” said Lee Ki-seong, 81, staring at a military uniform hanging on the wall in Park’s old study.

The house sees an average of 200 visitors a day who come from across the country, said Cho Young-hoon, a Seoul city official who manages the overall operation of the tour program. Visitors are mostly in their 60s and over, those who are nostalgic of the former president and the economic legacy he built, Cho said.

The long line of seniors waiting to go inside may reflect their attachment to the past and resentment toward the younger generation that fails to acknowledge their contribution to the country, pundits said.

“To them, the name Park Chung-hee is a keyword that symbolizes Korea’s rapid economic growth and that brings back the memories of the good old days,” said culture critic Ha Jae-keun.

“With the economic condition deteriorating as well as the widening gap with younger generations, they are recollecting memories of the days when they were once full of energy and enthusiastic, by rephrasing the name Park Chung-hee,” he said.

After devoting their youth to rebuilding the household and national economies, the generation is now facing aggravating poverty and solitude. A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows that the poverty rate of South Korea’s elderly was nearly 50 percent, meaning half of seniors earn 50 percent or less of the median household disposable income.

“For them, denying Park Chung-hee and his legacy is like neglecting their lives and the contribution they had made during and after his time,” said Lee Moon-won, another culture critic in Seoul.

“By watching Park Geun-hye rising into power, they wanted to see their sacrifice being compensated,” Lee said.

Yoon Seong-yi, political professor at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, said the seniors thereby had high expectations of her, projecting hopes that she would bring another economic miracle like her father and recognize their past contributions.

The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment, Yoon said. “Park’s image as an uncommunicative leader and her disappointing economic achievements, in turn, appear to be making it difficult for the senior voters to stay hopeful.”

Despite her ambitious three-year economic reform plan aimed at overhauling both the public and private sector, Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been going downhill. Korea saw its gross domestic product grow by 3.3 percent in 2014, lower than the G20’s 3.4 percent average, with increasing concerns for deflation.

On top of the disappointing indexes, in the eyes of nostalgic conservatives, Park is also failing to show the charisma or leadership reminiscent of her father’s rule.

“I think the daughter falls short of her father, especially in terms of the leadership and the generosity he had,” said Kim Pan-soo, a 75-year-old retiree, who visited the Sindang-dong house with his wife.

Another visitor, Lee Young-dong, agreed.

“Park Geun-hye seems to be wavering in her policies, particularly on her economic and welfare drive, unlike her father who charged through with the ‘can do’ spirit,” said the 60-year-old.

“I admit that the senior Park had dictatorial power at that time but I think her daughter’s (leadership) is too weak. She has to push ahead with plans and be fearless in the face of criticism.”

Behind the economic success achieved in the 70s, Park Chung-hee held a near-absolute power to rule the country by crushing the opposition forces. The Yushin Constitution gave Park dictatorial power as he was able to extend his presidency without seeking re-election. He also secured himself the right to appoint a large portion of the parliament that secured majority seats for his ruling party.

At the cost of brutal oppression against democracy and human rights, Park remained one of the most praised presidents in Korea’s modern history, as he brought the country under one shared goal ― to escape from poverty.

Daughter Park, meanwhile, faces a different time and different demands, while still based on conservative support.

During her five-year single presidential term, she must muster up cooperation from the opposition in implementing the reform initiatives including the civil servants’ pension system and the labor markets, all the while upholding the new National Assembly Advancement Law that limits bulldozing of bills by the majority party.

Her leadership is also tested within the ruling Saenuri Party, which is deeply split between her supporters and opponents. To the younger, progressive voters, Park is the daughter of a former dictator, who thereby often resorts to outdated politics of oppression and obstinacy.

Park’s approval ratings, which passed 50 percent upon her election, plummeted to below 30 percent in January this year.

Gallup Korea had noted that the positive ratings of Park among those in their 50s ― the president’s core support group ― had started to decline. Park’s approval ratings from this age group have fallen 10 percentage point in just over a year.

“The president needs more powerful tools that could coax conservative voters and also embrace the progressive blocs at the same time … such as the war against corruption and other social reform efforts that can be endorsed by people beyond their ideological differences,” said Yoon Hee-woong, senior analyst of Opinion Live, a Seoul-based consulting firm.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)

Staff reporter Sohn Ji-young contributed to this article. ― Ed.