ed Death knell

President’s brother suspected of corruption

Lee Sang-deuk, the elder brother of President Lee Myung-bak, will appear at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul Tuesday to be questioned over allegations that he received money in return for helping salvage troubled savings banks.

If the past is any guide, he could be put behind bars for bribery. We remember that Roh Gun-pyeong, also the elder brother of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, was arrested for corruption and before that, the sons of Roh’s predecessors ― Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam ― were also detained on similar charges. It is sad to see the recurrence of arrests involving relatives of a president in the lead-up to the end of the current regime.

Aides to Lee, 77, the former National Assembly speaker, denied all the allegations, saying he will give a full account of what happened at the prosecution. Yet given his political weight, the prosecution must have secured enough evidence to secure a conviction.

The prosecution says the former six-term lawmaker is suspected of receiving money from Lim Suk, chairman of Solomon Savings Bank. The money is allegedly part of 2 billion won Kim Chan-kyung, chairman of Mirae Savings Bank, gave to Lim so the money could be used to lobby politicians and high-ranking civil servants to prevent the troubled savings banks from being suspended. Given that the two banks were excluded from the list of 7 savings banks that were ousted last September, the prosecution allegedly believes that Lee would have exercised his influence to save them.

The businessman-turned-politician is also suspected of receiving illegal political funds from Kolon in which he had served as CEO. Another allegation says he is related to a corruption scandal involving Lee Kuk-chul, chairman of SLS Group. He, too, created a stir last year when about 700 million won was discovered in borrowed-name bank accounts held by one of his aides. His name has been raised frequently in various influence-peddling and corruption scandals such as illegal surveillance operations on civilians, overseas resources development and personnel shakeups in state-run companies.

Lee’s arrest will be a death knell for the Lee Myung-bak administration that has already seen many of its key architects arrested for various wrongdoings. In particular, it will cast a shame over President Lee to see his three strongmen ― former Korea Communications Commission Chairman Choi See-joong, former Vice Knowledge Economy Minister Park Young-joon and the president’s elder brother ― eventually put behind bars.

The President should have persuaded his elder brother to retire from politics right after his term began in early 2008. At the time, many commentators raised the possibility that the newly launched administration would be hit hard by corruption scandals involving Lee Sang-deuk as in previous administrations, if he continues his involvement in politics. The senior Lee resisted pressure to quit politics and the result is what we see ― a near-collapse of the Lee government.

The summons of Lee will have a far-reaching impact on the presidential election in December, dealing a blow to the governing Saenuri Party and its likely candidate Park Geun-hye. However, the savings bank scandal reached Park Ji-won, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party, who was a close aide to the late former President Kim Dae-jung. It remains to be seen how the scandal will affect the presidential poll.

At any rate, it’s high time to come up with fundamental measures to stop the repetition of corruption cases involving relatives and close confidants of presidents.