South Korea’s disgraced former president uses North Korea issues in an apparent attempt to rebuild her image as a righteous defender of freedom in a new bestseller, trumpeting defector support while amplifying criticisms of her progressive successor’s inter-Korean policies. 

Park Geun-hye, removed from office in 2017 and recently pardoned less than five years into her 20-year sentence for bribery and other charges, devotes a substantial number of pages to North Korea issues in her book, “Not Everybody Feels a Longing (그리움은 아무에게나 생기지 않습니다).” The book is a collection of 166 letters full of gushing praise that she received from fans during her time behind bars.