Moon furious over ex-President's 'political revenge' tirade
By Kim Rahn
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Moon Jae-in
President Moon Jae-in vented his anger Thursday at former President Lee Myung-bak for his claim that the ongoing investigation into corruption allegations made against him was political retaliation.
Moon said Lee’s remarks “insulted” his administration and the legal system.
The strong reaction came a day after Lee said the prosecution’s probe was political retaliation by the Moon administration over the death of former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun. Roh committed suicide in 2009 while being investigated for allegedly accepting bribes, and many of his supporters said the investigation was conducted as a favor to then-President Lee.
Moon was Roh’s decades-long friend and served as his chief of staff.
“President Moon said he could not cool his anger at Lee talking about political retaliation by directly mentioning Roh’s death,” presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a briefing.
Regarding Lee’s claim that Cheong Wa Dae was pulling the prosecution’s strings for political revenge, Park said, “Moon also said this insulted the government and the legal system, adding a former president should not have said this.”
Although many liberals believe the investigative pressure under the conservative Lee administration drove his predecessor to commit suicide, it has been virtually “taboo” among politicians to mention this directly.
Lee Myung-bak
Lee may have aimed at uniting conservatives by claiming political retaliation over Roh’s death, but this is likely to backfire and also unite liberals.
A Cheong Wa Dae official said Moon’s reaction did not come only from his personal feelings for Roh, but from the fact conservatives have labeled his drive to eradicate “deep-rooted social evils” as retaliation.
Over concerns that Moon’s remarks may deepen the rift between conservatives and liberals, the official said, “There have been many cases in which Lee and his former aides made comments deepening such a rift, that we (Cheong Wa Dae) have tolerated out of responsibility for national unity and stable state management. But now these remarks have gone beyond what is acceptable, and it would be irresponsible of us to remain silent under the circumstances.”
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Woo Won-shik also criticized Lee’s remarks, saying he had lost his dignity as a former president and the respect of the people by calling the investigation a political maneuver. “It is regretful for Lee to use Roh’s death in defending his alleged corruption; it was beyond acceptable political limits.”
But the Liberty Korea Party, the former ruling party under Lee, said if Cheong Wa Dae claims the investigation is fair and not political retaliation, alleged wrongdoings of the previous Roh and liberal Kim Dae-jung administrations should be looked into as well.
“The Moon government will be unable to avoid criticism of political revenge without stopping the insulting investigation of Lee, and thoroughly investigating corruption allegations made against the Roh and Kim administrations,” spokesman Rep. Chang Je-won said.
In Wednesday’s statement, Lee also said the investigation was a political maneuver to destroy conservatives. He called on the prosecution to investigate him instead of his former aides, as he accepted full for all affairs that took place during his term.
The statement came after his former senior secretary for administrative affairs, Kim Paik-joon, was arrested for receiving 400 million won from the National Intelligence Service from 2008 to 2012.