페이스북에 글 남겨… “나와 동생을 전혀 가르친 적 없어… 자격 안 돼”
서울시 교육감 선거에서 후보자들의 자녀들이 이슈의 중심으로 떠오르고 있는 가운데, 고승덕 후보와 전 부인 사이 딸인 캔디 고(27)씨가 자신의 페이스북에 고 후보를 뽑지 말아달라는 호소문을 올려 관심이 집중되고 있다. 캔디 고(한국 이름 고희경)씨는 고 박태준 포스코 회장의 차녀인 화가 박유아씨와 고 후보 사이에서 태어난 자녀로, 고 후보는 2002년 박씨와 이혼했다. 이중국적 문제로 논란을 빚고 있는 두 아들은 2004년 재혼한 부인 이무경씨와의 사이에서 난 자녀다.
캔디 고씨는 31일 자신의 페이스북에 영문으로 올린 "서울 시민 여러분께"라는 글에서 "최근 고승덕 후보가 서울시 교육감 선거에 나섰다는 얘기를 들고 침묵할 수 없었다"면서 "서울 시민들은 서울의 교육 시스템을 책임질 수도 있는 사람이 사실은 자기 자식들조차 제대로 교육시키지 않았다는 점을 알아야 한다"고 말했다.
메사추세츠 캠브리지에서 1987년 태어난 고씨는 “남동생이 태어난 1991년 가족이 모두 한국으로 갔으나 아버지가 우리에게 무엇이든 교육을 했던 기억이 전혀 없다"고 말했다. 또 "어머니가 우리들을 미국으로 데려온 후에는 인터넷이든 전화든 전혀 연락하지 않았다"면서 "그는 학비도 전혀 대지 않았다"고 폭로했다. 그는 그런데도 자신이 열심히 공부해 학업에서 우수한 성적을 거뒀고 올해 로스쿨을 졸업했다면서 아버지 없이 자신이 이뤄낸 것이 자랑스럽다고도 썼다.
고씨는 또 "한국에서 그가 부모들에게 아이들을 어떻게 교육시켜야 하는지 강의하는 것을 보고 화가 났지만 그동안은 침묵을 지켰다"면서 "하지만 교육감 선거에 출마한 것은 선을 넘어선 것”이라고 말했다. “이 상황에서도 내가 침묵한다면 서울 시민들을 속이는 일이 될 것”이라고 폭로하게 된 계기를 밝혔다.
고씨의 페이스북 친구들은 댓글을 통해 “용감하다”며 응원하기도 했다. 고 씨의 페이스북에는 오후 5시 현재 한글 번역본까지 올라온 상황이다.
고 후보는 딸이 페이스북에 올린 글에 대해 "아픈 가족사에 대해서 세세한 말씀을 드리기는 어렵다"며 "결별과정과 재혼으로 아이들이 받은 상처에 대해 미안한 마음이다"라고 밝혔다.
아래는 캔디 고씨가 페이스북에 올린 전문
To the Citizens of Seoul,
I am not a citizen of your city, but I write you today out of urgency and dire concern for the future of your city’s education system.?
My name is Candy Koh, once known as Hee Kyung Koh (고희경) during my residence in South Korea from the year 1991 to 1998. I am the first of two children between Yooah Park and Seung Duk Koh, a candidate for Seoul’s Superintendent of Education in the current elections. When his candidacy came to my attention recently, I could not, in good conscience, stay silent as his child. Seoul’s citizens deserve know the truth about the person they may be choosing to represent and be in charge of Seoul’s education system: Seung Duk Koh never partook in the education of his own children.
I was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1987 while my mother and Koh were still married. After my brother was born in New Jersey in 1991, we all moved to Korea. I have next to no memories of his being present to teach me or my brother anything, even when I was old enough to have such memories. When my mother brought me and my brother to the U.S. to send us to a school in New York, Koh stayed in Korea and also decided to stop contacting us altogether.
I was still only 11 years old when I had to get used to a life without a father. I missed out on Father’s Day every year. I hated it when people asked me where my father was or what he did and I eventually began to reply that I do not know, because he never told me. Despite the existence of a telephone and Internet, Koh never called me or my brother to ask how we were doing. Asking for a call or gifts on our birthday was not even in the scope of our imagination because he did not acknowledge his own children’s existence. Of course he never supported our education in any way, including financially.?
Despite this, I was able to go through college and graduate school as one of the top students in my class. To better apply my interest in public service, I also plan to begin law school in the fall with a merit scholarship. I am proud that I have managed to achieve this much without my biological father. I could not have done it without my mother who single-handedly raised both her children or my maternal grandfather?my mother’s father?who provided me the psychological support of a father throughout my life until he passed.
Meanwhile as I grew up in the U.S., I saw through the Korean media that Koh would give lectures to children on how to study or how to “succeed.” I also saw that he spoke to parents on how best to educate their children. When I first saw the latter in the early 2000s, I became angry, as he did not educate his own children, but rather completely disregarded them. However, I was still a child, barely in my teens, and I was also living in the U.S. What could I do? I felt that I had no choice but to keep silent. Despite seeing the praises he received from many Koreans for his achievements and so-called brilliance, I kept silent because I didn’t think my voice mattered. I am also an American and perhaps felt I had no business engaging in dialogues particular to the Korean political scene. However, Seung Duk Koh’s running for the seat as Seoul’s Superintendent of Education is crossing the line. For me to keep silent here would be to deceive the citizens of Seoul.
As a child he neither educated nor rarely even spoke to, I must inform the citizens of Seoul that he does not qualify for this position. If the role of a superintendent of education is to look after the educational policies and systems of a city, Seung Duk Koh is a stranger to this role. How can he act as the leader of education for a city when he is unwilling to teach his own flesh and blood??
Education is one of the most important things in the world. It shapes people in whose hands the future lies?the future of your city, your nation, and the world. I, his own daughter, never received support from him for my own education. As a former citizen of Seoul still with many friends who reside there, I trust that you will make the right decision for the future of your city and choose a candidate better suited for the position: someone who truly cares about the Seoul’s education system and someone who begins by caring for those nearest to him, his own children.?
Sincerely,
Candy Koh
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