Mega damages suit against President

President Park Geun-hye / Korea Times file

$317 mil. suit against President

By Oh Young-jin

With presidents and prime ministers emerging to be a risk factor around the world, can we just wait for history to pass its judgment on them, while watching them wreak havoc?

Or do we institutionalize a system that punishes bad-apple leaders through, say, a class action for punitive damages against them? (Both are not fully available in Korea).

That way, the leaders would behave while in office and have careful second thoughts before bidding for the highest office in the country.

Let's take the example of President Park Geun-hye. How much has she cost the nation because of her alleged incompetence and corruption that put her in the middle of an impeachment case now being deliberated by the Constitutional Court?

The gamut of the presidential office is all-encompassing so let's just focus on the candlelit protests alone for starters.

For the convenience of calculation, I would use as a basis the end-of-last-year aggregate tally of 10 million people who participated in the candlelit protests that started with demands for Park's resignation and impeachment, and then moved to pressure the court for a prompt ruling for it. The rallies are still under way.

Now, we assume that each of the 10 million people used one candle and one paper cup. Although their prices would get significantly lower if purchased in large quantities, I use their selling prices at a nearby convenience store ― 2,200 won for a box of two candles and 2,000 won for 10 paper cups. The sums are 11 billion won for candles and 2 billion won for the cups, totaling 13 billion won or $11.4 million.

Say they used subway on their round trips to Gwanghawmun, the site of their Saturday night rallies, so the basic fare for an adult, set at 1,250 won, is used. The result is the sum of 2,500 won being multiplied by 10 million, which comes to 25 billion won or $22 million.

They were from all walks of life so their income level would be different. But I would use the minimum hourly wage of 6,470 won and each for an average five hours in the protest to calculate their unfulfilled economic opportunities and the total is 323.5 billion won or $284 million.

Put together the prices of candles, cups, transportation costs and the unfulfilled wages, the total is 361.5 billion won or $317 million.

Would anybody, Park included, dare to go astray in office or bid for the job at the risk of getting his or her posterity indebted forever?

We need to remind ourselves of what other costs are not counted in. They include traffic congestion costs ― buses, taxies, private vehicles and so on forced to make detours or left parked at home; more importantly, costs for government being run in emergency mode with President Park out of action after the impeachment bill was passed by the National Assembly.

The even bigger cost is the mental anguish the whole nation is being dragged into ― stress for knowing Park was being controlled by her friend, Choi Soon-sil; and for not being able to trust anybody after knowing that Choi, often with Park's help, used her influence in her daughter's high school and college admissions. Besides, Samsung and other members of Korea Inc. see their operations affected, reputations tarnished and business opportunities compromised as the Park-Choi duo extorted them and received what couldn't be seen as anything other than bribes. The tab for those ― lost opportunities at a national level ― could reach many times the sum only involving the candlelit protests.

Protesters among candlelit demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul demand President Park's resignation. / Korea Times file

Now, here is the tricky part.

I sought a pro bono legal consultation from a renowned jurist who didn't want to reveal his name.

My first question was whether it was possible to seek damages against Park.

He was pessimistic, saying that it has never been done before ― not in Korea or the rest of the world.

Brazilians didn't seek damages from Dilma Rousseff, the president who was impeached for taking bribes and cooking state account books. True, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, the corrupt presidents, were ordered to cough up the money they had extorted from chaebol but it was not a damages suit. Besides, they have defied the orders, claiming the money were "governing funds," not bribes or protection money.

"Impeachment is the severest form of punishment," the jurist said.

My counterargument is that since the ongoing Constitutional Court's trial is comparable to a criminal trial, a civil suit should be warranted also. If she is found to be guilty, the people should be able to seek damages.

"Not so," he said, citing the constitutional logic that doesn't see the president as the target of civil suit for what he or she does in office. George W. Bush took the world to the clash of civilizations and brought his country to the brink of economic collapse but nobody sued him. For Trump, his executive order for an entry ban on Muslims has been rejected by the courts but nobody has taken him to court seeking damages.

The jurist sympathized with me, when I said that ordinary people are forever cursed to put up with incompetent, corrupt leaders and pay for their messes as well.

"It is like old times when kings tried to hang on to power, irrespective of whatever great suffering the people had to bear," he observed. "We are reliving it."

But I pressed on. My rationale was: We need to set a precedent for leaders to pay for their wrongdoing once and for all, even if it takes a constitutional revision.

The jurist caved in, saying tentatively, "We could seek damages for mental anguish."

When I was about to say, "Eureka," he talked about little chance of winning on that account.

I said to myself: "We are stuck."

Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.

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