'Preppy' lawmakers

If “well-being” or “wellness” is combined with politics, it can carry a negative connotation. The search on the database of the Dong-A Ilbo found that “well-being” was first used as a political term in the newspaper’s editorial dated on July 15, 2005. “The main opposition Hannara Party seemed to have a deeply ingrained pattern of taking windfall gains by utilizing the mismanagement and mistakes of the government and the ruling party without any mature political or policy philosophy,” the editorial said. “It has become a tribe of ‘well-being’.” Since then, the “tribe of well-being” and “well-being nature” have become the symbol of the opposition party.

On March 3, 2006, the then Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak criticized his party in a meeting with some journalists, saying, “This administration (The Roh Moo-hyun administration) is a vicious one. However, the Hannara party seems relaxed. It seems like people on the beach.” In response, Park Geun-hye, who was then the leader of the opposition party and Lee’s competitor in the presidential race, fired back, saying, “There is someone who plays a personal action at the sacrifice of the party.” This triggered controversy. “People on the beach” become a buzzword within the party for a while.

Our editorial dated on Aug. 17, 2007 criticized the Hannara party. Using an analogy of herbivores to describe the party, the article said, “As the main opposition party is just chewing the prey only with the teeth of herbivores. The puppets of those who suppress the media are biting the media with the teeth of predators.” Herbivores are not aggressive and do not have the grit of predators that never release the prey once they bite it. The Lee Myung-bak administration had been pestered by the left-wing liberals such as the protests against the import of the U.S. beef. It was like herbivores being overwhelmed by aggressive predators.

Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, who is in charge of managing the nomination of candidates for elections at the current ruling Saenuri Party, which is the successor of the Hannara Party, said on Thursday that he would not recommend those who are like “preppies.” Who are like preppies? Lee elaborated that they are those who did not show presence for four years, instead of trying to resolve issues proactively in case an important issue emerges. Wouldn’t this mean those who have “well-being nature,” are like “people on the beach” and herbivores?

이진녕 jinnyong@donga.com