Choo d’Arc and ‘PIMFY’

It was at a restaurant in Seoul on July 5, 2001, which was during the Kim Dae-jung administration. A fuss happened at a drinking party attended by lawmakers with the then ruling Democratic Party and correspondents to the party. Commenting on a novelist who criticized a tax probe into a media company, a female lawmaker used curse words by calling him "that irrational son of bitch." He also protested a Dong-A Ilbo reporter who was in attendance against the size of her interview with the newspaper, which was smaller than the story on the novelist. Eventually, she pounded the table and spit out abusive language. “Did you write articles at the newspaper owner’s instruction? You, cowardly son of bitch, is no better than the owner of the daily.”

She is Rep. Choo Mi-ae, who entered politics at President Kim’s recommendation after serving as judge. Having become the first directly elected five-term female lawmaker, Choo is nicknamed "Choo d’Arc" (Choo + Jeanne d’Arc). She conducted the procession of "three steps one bow" to apologize to the public as the election preparation committee chair of the Democratic Party, which was in crisis due to the motion to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun ahead of the 2004 general elections, but failed to save her party. She would only end up revealing her short-temperedness despite such efforts. Back in 2009, she blocked even the submission of a revision bill to the non-regular employment act as the chair of the parliamentary environment and labor committee, and several months later she passed the labor relations act in collaboration with ruling Grand National Party lawmakers, making herself being almost kicked out of her party.

Choo recently declared her candidacy for the chairmanship of the main opposition Minjoo Party, whose election will be held at the party convention on August 28. But she is causing controversy again while suggesting the construction of "Saemangeum New Airport" as her election pledge. She is trying to win support by appealing to voters in North Jeolla Province to counter Rep. Song Young-gil, who is hailing from South Jeolla Province and who is also running for the party chairmanship. Politicians in the South Jeolla Province instantly protested against her controversial pledge. They claimed that Muan Airport and Gwangju Airport, which are not economically viable, can be merged and reshuffled to revive air traffic.

It was as recently as Monday that the Gyeongsang region managed to end conflict after divide of opinions over construction of a new airport for the region, which was an election pledge made by both the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. Choo tried to explain her pledge by saying, “The plan on Saemangeum New Airport is not a pork-barreling offer that I randomly made, but one of state projects whose feasibility study is already underway.” Unfortunately, however, "feasibility study" and promise to construct are completely different each other. Selfishness of regions that seek to attract profitable projects into their regions is called "PIMFY" (Please in my front yard) phenomenon. There have been always politicians who pollute the water by instigating PIMFY.

박제균논설위원 phark@donga.com