CJ chief's illness mocked online
By Nam Hyun-woo
CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun exits a vehicle to appear at Seoul Central District Court in this file photo taken on July 1 for a court review on the issuance of an arrest warrant. / Yonhap
CJ Group claimed Tuesday that its Chairman Lee Jay-hyun is suffering from renal failure and other rare critical diseases, eight days after he was detained on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion and breach of trust.
The disclosure of Lee’s reported health condition has meanwhile failed to earn him public sympathy.
According to the food and entertainment group, Lee’s health situation has been complicated by chronic renal failure, high blood pressure, and CMT, a genetic disease that causes disorders in the peripheral nervous system, weakening muscle tissue and his sense of touch.
Lee limped and leaned over investigators when he was summoned to the prosecution’s office for questioning on June 25. CMT occurs on average in one out of 2,500 people. Lee’s family has a history of the disease, according to CJ Group.
Lee suffered from renal failure since his thirties, but recent diagnosis confirmed that he is fast approaching the terminal stage of the disease.
Renal failure hinders a patient’s kidney from filtering wastes in the blood.
Accumulated waste can kill a patient. Hemodialysis is usually performed on patients with renal failure.
CJ said that given Lee’s complex medical condition, hemodialysis treatment was not an ideal medical option for him. The most feasible medical option for his condition is a kidney transplant.
“In May, Lee’s doctor said he is under a serious condition which requires immediate transplantation” said an official at the group. “Lee was scheduling the date for transplant operation, when the prosecution launched its investigation. Lee is undergoing the probe while having medication and dietary treatment.”
Doctors say, however, terminal-stage renal failure, like Lee’s, all but restricts the ability of the patient to engage in regular daily activities.
“A patient’s kidney completely goes out of order in the terminal stage of the disease,” said an internal medicine specialist asking not to be named.
The group said in its statement that releasing information about Lee’s health condition is aimed at “clarifying the facts,” regarding his current state. But critics and Internet users remain entirely unconvinced.
A netizen said: “Lee has postponed a transplant operation for seven months, enduring pain, but suddenly fell into an intolerable condition immediately after his detention, which is nonsense.”
Twitter users also said that tycoons become sick whenever they are summoned for investigation over allegations of corruption.
A twitter user (@SignoraVetinari) twitted: “I really want to know who is Lee’s doctor. If you see Lee’s healthy face, the doctor must be Hippocrates.”
Another (@RANZO99) wrote that “Are you sick too? How can patients conduct ‘global management’ or ‘aggressive business’ traveling all over the world? Why don’t you quit this time.”
Others lampooned Lee’s illness that “It Hurts Because You’re chaebol,” a parody of a million-seller essay “It Hurts Because You’re Young,” by Prof. Kim Nan-do of Seoul National University.
Meanwhile, the prosecution said it will extend Lee’s detention period in order to thoroughly investigate the case. A prosecutor said that “Lee is eating well and answering questions assiduously.”