[Photo] Excessive idolization of Park Chung-hee around the country

Visitors watch a hyperdome video of images of former President Park Chung-hee (in office 1961-79), at the National Revival Center in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province (Park’s hometown), Oct. 12.

Portraits of Park Chung-hee and his late wife Yuk Young-soo at the Mungyeong Elementary School boarding where Park stayed for three years when he worked as a teacher starting in Apr. 1937.

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This statue in a city forest in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province depicts Park Chung-hee as a young boy, still studying hard even though he had to work. The statue has been criticized as mimicking a similar statue of Ninomiya Sontoku, a 19th century Japanese agricultural leader.

An image of former President Park Chung-hee in the lobby of the National Revival Center in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province (Park’s hometown).

A memorial stone in Kimje, North Jeolla Province on a spot where 50 years ago Park Chung-hee visited, Oct. 18. Civic groups have called for the stone’s removal, saying it is “excessive idolization.”

A statue of Park Chung-hee in front of the main building at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, commemorating KIST’s fiftieth anniversary.