Taking the occasion too far

The wedding ceremony of the daughter of Grand National Party supreme council member Park Soon-ja is said to have been a lavish affair with floral decorations from guests covering an entire building, while people waited in long lines to pay congratulatory money. The wedding took place in Park’s electoral district with prominent figures, including top officials of the Grand National Party, making appearances.

Naturally, the wedding itself should have been a celebrated event. However, some of the problems of excessively luxurious weddings need to be pointed out.

A supreme council member is an official of the nation’s leadership.

Gaudy weddings of the upper crust, people with both a vast social network and fortune, have been criticized for promoting a wasteful and excessive culture and a sense of distance from the general public. The level of such criticism against such opulent weddings has grown as the economy worsens. There’s a disconnect between those that seemingly have everything and those struggling just to get by.

Some pointed out that the ruling party in particular should be cognizant of public sentiment following the recent Roh Moo-hyun funeral.

Most of the people who showed up for the late president’s funeral were ordinary folks.

These are people who, regardless of the late president’s public and private life, found something in him to relate to. It was a feeling that he was one of them. It’s hard to deny that such sentiment is one of the reasons why the public feels distanced from the current administration and the well-to-do Grand National Party.

The leading party’s top members should absorb and indeed reflect the sentiments and reality of the general public. Sending wedding invitations and decorating the nuptials with expansive floral gifts should have been more restrained.

Incheon’s education office superintendent was harshly criticized last month after sending wedding invitations to principals and vice principals of several hundred schools within the city as well as top public servants at education-related institutions while using employees of the education office for the private event. The lack of sensitivity to public feelings by the top leaders of this country in sad times such as these is worrisome. Though quiet on the outside, the public warily watches these events. Inside, there stirs a sense of resentment.