Ko So-young (she looks like this) S-line, would in Korean parlance refer to Ko So-young the actress, and her S-shaped, or slim, figure. S.K.Y. would normally refer to that which falls down at the end of the world, or a trio of the top Korean elite schools, being Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei (their graduates combine to make up about 2/3 of the political and bureaucratic elite). But not for the ever inventive Korean netizens (here).
Ko(rea University), So(mang Church), and Young(nam voting disctricts) become short hand for the powerbase of newly inagurated President Lee Myung-bak. S-line, or its looks, refers to his time as a S(eoul) mayor. S(omang), K(orea University), Young(nam) does the same. As JoongAng Daily put it: “The SKY is the limit for minister nominees” and its not difficult to make a similar sentence that includes line either.
President Lee Myung-bak is a graduate from Korea University and has brought with him a darling amount of alumni to serve as ministers and at other top positions. As a churchgoer at the 70,000 man strong Somang Presbyterian Church, he is in company with 60 former ministers (not including pickings of his own), 10 university presidents, and 150 popular entertainers (here). Then there is Youngnam, the two Gyeongsang provinces that is the political homeland for Lee Myung-bak’s Grand National Party (although the homeland would probably liked to have seen someone born there as its candidate, such as daughter of former military general-cum-dictator-or-president, Park Geun-hye).
Unfortunately I am skipping the part that should read, “note, the above is not uncommon in South Korea”. And although your company present believes a president should be judged by more, it would be somewhat unfair to let Lee Myung-bak be judged on other than his (economic) performance (if the voters remember that’s why they elected him). To bad then, that he will be judged in April, at the National Assembly election. For references Ko So-young is spelled 고소영 S-라인 in Korean.
More on elites, see: Ahn, Byong-Man (2003). Elites and Political Power in South Korea. Cheltenham: Edgar Elgar
Tags: GNP, Grand National Party, JoongAng Daily, Ko So-young, Korea University, Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye, S-line, Seoul National University, SKY, Somang Church, Somang Presbyterian Church, Yonsei University
