Corruption mars Lee's achievements
By Kim Jae-won
President Lee Myung-bak
One of the slogans of President Lee Myung-bak’s government stated its aim of establishing a “fair society,” but his administration has been severely tarnished by a string of corruption scandals involving members of his family and top aides.
Former lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk is the outgoing president’s elder brother who acted as mentor to the future head of state after their father died when he was young. The elder Lee also helped the president launch his political career in the early 1990s after his brother changed careers after working as chief executive of Hyundai Engineering & Construction.
So, when Lee Sang-deuk was sentenced to two years in prison last month on charges of taking hundreds of millions won in bribes from businessmen, it was a huge blow to the president whose tenure has been buffeted by a series of corruption scandals involving other people close to him.
Among them is another longtime mentor, Choi Si-joong, was head of the Korea Communication Commission during Lee’s presidency.
Choi was convicted of peddling influence in a development project in southern Seoul, in exchange for taking bribes amounting to 750 million won. The president pardoned the 75-year-old former journalist last month, drawing public uproar.
Under his leadership, the country’s anti-corruption index dropped. Korea ranked 45th in the Corruption Perceptions Index last year, down two steps from a year ago, among 176 countries surveyed by Transparency International (TI), a Berlin-based anti-corruption organization.
The nation was given a score of 56 out of 100, behind Asian rivals Japan and Taiwan which ranked 17th and 37th, respectively, with scores of 74 and 61.
TI Korea Secretary General Kim Seong-su says that both Lee’s personal character and the nation’s lack of anti-corruption checks lowered the country’s international ranking in the anti-corruption index.
“President Lee is often confused when drawing lines between private and public interests,” Kim said.
The major four-river refurbishment project is an example of showing favoritism to acquaintances and nepotism because his administration awarded construction projects to businesses close to his aides and family, said Kim.
”Under Lee’s governance, Korea saw its corruption deepen further, unlike its Asian counterparts Japan and Taiwan whose corruption level lowered during the same period,” Kim said.
While Lee’s brother and aides were taking bribes from businessmen and granting favors to them, the nation’s merchants and factory workers suffered harsh treatment from the government.
Lee’s strong anti-labor policy is one of the most controversial parts of his legacy. The excessive use of police force in the process of dissolving a group of tenants who staged a protest at a four-story building in Yongsan, central Seoul over a redevelopment project, proved to be costly for both the government and powerless tenants.
Police raided the building on a cold winter day in January 2009, and six people ― five tenants and one policeman ― died during the violent clash. The building was completely burned out, but the shell remained for about a year because the government and family members of the victims could not reach an agreement over compensation.
They managed to agree on a settlement a year later after mediation by then Prime Minister, Chung Woon-chan.