“There is a need to strive for political harmony and unity between conservatives and progressives in Korean politics.”
“Even if this process is quite long and arduous,” Tina Park, one of the key figures in the Korean-American community, said in an interview with The Overseas Koreans Newspaper in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.
Park, a former member of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Board of Trustees, was pretty impressed at seeing the snow-covered streets on her first trip to Seoul during the winter season.
While on her way to nationwide tour to hold publication ceremonies and promote her memoir, she visited the paper's newsroom on March 6 and revealed the untold personal stories and political beliefs.
At the beginning of the interview, Park expressed her critical views on Korean politics. She also made a remark against the divisive political stance and rhetoric on a basis of ideological rigidness.
“Any consensus can hardly be found in the political sector because they try to nitpick every single word the opposition party says. We need a significant improvement and implementation of structural reform, as well as strong suprapartisan leadership,” Park said.
“From my experience in the U.S., when both parties reached a broader social consensus on major issues through dialogue, we hit our goals and even overachieved our initial targets,” she said.
“For South Korea to make a new leap forward, every effort needs to be made to guarantee suprapartisan policy so no one is left out from sharing the fruits of social consensus,” Park added.
In 2009, She was elected to serve as the youngest member of the LACCD Board of Trustees, becoming the first ethnic Korean to take the post in the history of Korean immigrants to the U.S.
It was just six years ago that Tina Park, aged 33, entered the education borad after a bitter battle for the electorate of L.A. county with sitting member who was widely supported by ethnic minorities.
Park's victory as a Republican candidate in the election was unlikely for a Los Angeles district. Because the politics of Los Angeles were largely dominated by the Democratic party.
She was almost certain to earn many votes from conservatives. Because the Republican Party selected Park as its new candidate, hoping she would break the party's old and conservative image, and block the ruling Democratic party from extending power.
In the meantime, the young conservative candidate gained enough votes from Pan-democrats.
She actually began her political life not as a Republican but as a Democrat, campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2008, except for a student volunteer at Rudy Giuliani camp.
Park was the youngest among contenders while critics worried about her age. Her youth reflected a lack of experience in politics and public administration. Moreover Park, Asian woman, was not well known voters.
Tina Park, however, set out a more detailed strategy ahead of the upcoming election. She pledged to increase transparency in the board during the campaign while the district underwent a severe budget crisis.
Park finally turned her disadvantages into advantages by highlighting the issue of a young woman of the ethnic minority community.
This strategy helped her beat an African-American incumbent by a fairly large margin. Park obtained 168,367 votes, representing 53.87 percent of the electorate in general election. Nobody expected the gap to be 24,175 votes between the winner and the runner-up.
“I was really happy to be the first Korean-American member of the board, which oversees nine community colleges in L.A. County, the largest district in the United States,” she recalled.
“I looked forward to helping the district continue to move forward in a positive way,” said Park, who was in charge of spending an annual budget of $1.1 billion (1 trillion won) to educate some 130,000 students across 36 cities.
Park's success in politics was also unlikely for a Korean-American. LA's Korean community was sizeable but not that active in politics. Despite concerns of voter apathy, it was reported that many Korean-Americans eagerly voted for the first time when they cast a ballot for Tina Park.
“Many Koreans actively engaged in the campaign and they became active participants. It wouldn’t have been possible without them,” she said in an interview, adding that she appreciates all the Korean-Americans in Los Angeles, who supported and trusted her.
A republican winner in a largely Democratic area, Park, a Korean-born naturalized U.S. citizen, fared better than expected during the four-year term in the education board.
In 2010, the LACCD Board of Trustees passed a resolution proposed by Tina Park to mark Aug. 15 as “Korean Independence day.” It was the first time in the history of Korean immigrants to America.
“Tina Park” became one of the most frequently searched keywords on Naver, the most visited search engine in South Korea after TV documentary entitled, “Two Days with Tina Park” was aired on Korean broadcaster SBS.
However, Park gave up her bid for a second term to blaze her own trail after her term finished in 2013. People didn't understand her determination.
“I wanted to devote myself to improving human rights conditions.” Park explained.
The Assyrian Christians in Syria and Iraq have been persecuted by the extremist group Islamic State (IS) because of their faith, which forced her to become involved in protecting Iraqi and Syrian Christians.
Park also urged the United Nations to find them a safe haven. She helped orchestrate a mass fundraising campaign, which raised $600,000 in just four hours.
Tina Park has been personally interested in human rights, women's issues and ethnic minorities since she served as volunteer mentors in Christian outreach program.
Park was born and raised in a faithful Christian family, her late father was a pastor and educator. A devout Christian, Park has volunteered for many organizations, including soup kitchens, after-school programs and non-profit charity groups.
The thirty-nine-year-old was classified as a 1.5 generation Korean-American. Park moved to New York with her family when she was six years old. Before relocating to Los Angeles, Park graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in accounting.
She began her career in auditing when she joined the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). NYSE hired only 12 new employees nationwide. She was the sole successful applicant out of 250 in her university.
Park played important roles in a special task force with her talent and ability recognized by the NYSE. She was later transferred to the enforcement division, a subsidiary of NYSE Regulation.
Some employees regard the division as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Because it investigates acts of possible corruption among members of the NYSE and nobody knows where it is.
It was the place where she faced a major turning point in her life. It was on Sept. 11, 2001 that a secret meeting was scheduled to be held on the 22nd floor of the World Trade Center.
“I was supposed to hold a meeting with members of the division at the building on Tuesday (9/11). I got off the train which exited below tower number one, which was already hit by the plane.”
When Park started running away from the tower, she watched the second jet hit the building. Park was completely freaked out as she saw bricks and paper-like material falling into the ground.
Fortunately, she survived on Sept. 11, 2001, with thousands of others who had been inside the Twin Towers when they were attacked by terrorists. This exprience changed her attitude about life.
Park focuses all her energies on searching more valuable activities. That is one reason why she published a memoir.
Park is now seeking to publish a second edition of the book titled “It's Now, Just Live!”. The first printing already sold out within a few months of sales launching.
“I will update my stories to share some useful lessons that I learned from my experience,” she said.
By Kyoum Hur khur@dongponews.net
kyoumhur@gmail.com
