Former president criticizes successor in private

By Choi Sung-jin

Former President Lee Myung-bak has revealed critical views on President Park Geun-hye, especially concerning the prosecution’s investigation of business groups he patronized in office.

“I didn’t do a good job as a president, but (President Park) seems to be doing worse than me,” former President Lee was quoted as saying to a ruling party lawmaker at their recent meeting, by the Segye Times, Monday. It was a joke but appeared to reflect Lee’s views on his successor, political watchers said.

The lawmaker said the former president had a strong opinion that President Park is administering state affairs in the wrong way. “Particularly, former President Lee expressed discontent about the prosecution’s continuous probes into large business groups,” the lawmaker said, adding that Lee seemed to think these investigations are targeting his administration.

There have been rumors in political circles that the prosecution’s earlier investigations into POSCO, and more recently into Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and the Lotte Group, were aimed at the Lee administration.

Lee had refrained from directly criticizing his successor, who is from the same conservative party. As the ruling Saenuri Party suffered a humiliating setback in April’s parliamentary elections and two-thirds of President Park’s term in office have passed, he seems to have begun to express some bad feelings accumulated over the past three-and-a-half years, observers said.

Yet Lee praised Park’s decision not to build a new airport in southeastern provinces but to expand the existing one near Busan, something he also tried to do but failed. “President Park handled it right,” Lee was quoted as saying.

Most Internet users showed negative responses to Lee’s remarks.

“Had Lee not wasted 50 trillion won ($43 billion) on river-rebuilding projects and overseas resources development and spent it for creating jobs for youth, Korea would have been far better off than now,” a netizen said.

“Are you upset because the incumbent administration is bullying the Lotte Group that you favored so much?” another said. “Have you already forgotten what you did against your predecessor, the late President Roh Moo-hyun?”

“How come could you mention only probes into some chaebol of all the countless wrongs the Park Geun-hye administration has done?” a third said. “You made criticism for your own sake, not the entire people.”

Some preferred Lee over Park, however, saying: “Former President Lee at least attempted to watch people’s faces, but the incumbent president does not even pretend to do so.”