고승덕 후보 딸 "자녀 버린 아버지, 교육감 자격없다" 파문

고승덕 서울시교육감 후보의 딸이 소셜네트워크서비스 페이스북을 통해 “아버지 고승덕은 서울시교육감 후보로서 자격이 없다”는 글을 올려 논란이 예상된다.

31일 자신을 고승덕 후보의 큰딸이라고 밝힌 고희경(Candy Koh)씨는 페이스북에 올린 ‘서울 시민에게’라는 제목의 글을 통해 고 후보를 비판하는 글을 올렸다.

▶ 고승덕 후보의 큰딸이라고 자신을 소개한 고희경(Candy Koh)씨. /사진=고희경씨 페이스북

고 씨는 글에서 “나는 서울시민이 아니지만 서울시 교육의 미래가 걱정돼 글을 쓴다”며 “서울시민들이 교육의 책임자를 뽑는 자리에서 진실을 알 자격이 있다고 생각한다”고 글을 시작했다.

고 씨는 자신을 1987년 미국 매사추세츠의 캠브릿지에서 고 후보가 결혼했을 당시 태어났으며 한국에서 1991년부터 1998년까지 살았다고 밝혔다.

이어 어머니가 고 씨와 남동생을 미국으로 데리고가 뉴욕의 학교에 보낼 때에도 아버지 고 후보는 한국에 있었으며 우리와 연락을 끊기로 했다고 주장했다.

고 씨는 “미국에서 자랐지만 한국 미디어를 통해 고 후보가 아이들에게 어떻게 공부하는지, 어떻게 성공해야하는지 강의하는 것을 봐 왔다”며 “(고 후보의 강의를) 2000년 초반에 처음 목격하고 자신의 자식들은 전혀 교육시키지도 않았고 심지어 완전히 무시하며 지냈다는걸 알아 매우 분노했다”고 말했다.

고 씨는 “친자식조차 가르치지 않은 사람이 어떻게 도시의 교육을 책임지는 리더가 될 수 있느냐?”며 “이번 일마저 넘어가는 건 서울 시민들을 우롱하는 것이라 생각했다”고 밝혔다.

영문으로 원고지 22매 분량의 글을 올린 고 씨는 말미에 “저는 미국인이며 한편으론 제가 한국의 정치적인 일에 연루될 일이 아니라고 생각하기도 했다”며 “(교육감으로는) 필히 서울의 교육시스템을 진정으로 생각하고 그 시작으로 가장 가까운 존재인 자식들 또한 신경 쓸 줄 아는 사람이어야 할 것”이라고 말했다.

이에대해, 고승덕 후보 선거캠프 관계자는 기자와의 전화 통화에서 “해당 문건에 대해 파악하는 중”이라며 “고 후보와 연락이 닿지 않아 딸이 맞는지 여부도 확인해봐야한다”고 밝혔다.

이후 파장이 커지자 고 후보 측은 기자들에게 보낸 문자메시지에서 “아픈 가족사에 대해 세세한 말씀을 드리기 어렵지만 아버지로서 결별 과정과 재혼으로 인해 아이들이 받은 마음의 큰 상처에 평생 미안한 마음”이라며 “지난 십여 년 동안 청소년 활동과 봉사에 매진한 것도 바로 그 때문” 밝혀 간접적으로 딸임을 인정했다.

이다일 기자 [e-mail]

<고희경(Candy Koh)씨가 올린 글 전문>

Candy Koh
about an hour ago near New York, NY
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