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[EDITORIALS]Take the high road, Ms. Park

Out of the blue, a controversy over the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation is brewing. The governing Uri Party has formed an investigation team to look into the foundation. It wants to investigate how the organization, which was originally set up as Buil Foundation by a businessman, was transformed into the May 16 Scholarship Foundation, which is the immediate predecessor of the Jeongsu Foundation.
The Uri Party claims that its investigation is not “one of political wrangling.” But its intentions are clear enough that even a mere child knows what it is up to.
The Uri Party intends to highlight the fact that the businessman was forced to relinquish his scholarship foundation by the then-military regime, and as a result, deal a political blow to Chairwoman Park Geun-hye. It is embarrassing to have a party try to undermine the opposition leader when the economy is in bad shape and the public sentiment is about to boil over.
Chairwoman Park should clearly state her position on the controversy, even though she may well be upset for being a target of political attack over a personal matter.
She can go ahead and keep her chief directorship with Jeongsu, but at the bottom of the controversy lie the arguments of the late Kim Ji-tae’s family, which has contended that the foundation was forcibly taken, and that the matter was raised on several occasions in the National Assembly. Therefore, it seems unlikely that the Uri Party’s team will determine that the late Mr. Kim gave up the foundation of his own free will.
Ms. Park, we are sure, has a lot of things on her mind. Foremost, she does not want to cause damage to her late father, former President Park Chung Hee. She should not worry: The public is wise. They already know the achievements as well as the errors of the former president.
She is no longer just a former president’s daughter and a politician, but a stalwart of the largest opposition party. In that regard, the attack on her directorship of the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation is an orchestrated offensive aimed at Ms. Park.
Under these circumstances, she may well be better off by taking the high road. The public does not care so much about whether she maintains her chief directorship at the foundation. By acting calmly and with dignity, Ms. Park could re-emerge with her political cause strengthened.