There would be no politicians left in the US if spreading false information during a campaign ever became a crime like it is in Seoul:
The post of Seoul education superintendent, one of the most powerful educational positions in the country, might be vacated for the third time since direct elections were introduced for the post in 2008.
On Thursday night, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Seoul Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon to pay a 5 million won ($4,640) fine for spreading false information about one of his rivals, Koh Seung-duk, during the election campaign last year. If the ruling is upheld in the Supreme Court, he will be kicked out of his job.
Cho claimed that Koh was a permanent resident of the United States, which wasn’t true.
“Superintendent Cho did not fully check the facts about Koh’s permanent residency in the United States when he held a press conference about it,” said the judge panel. “Given that Cho mentioned the issue again even after Koh released an explanation, Cho’s action was clearly the spreading of false information.”
Under local educational law, a candidate who intentionally disseminates false information about a rival can be fined 5 million to 30 million won or sent to prison for up to seven years. An education superintendent who is fined 1 million won or more or sentenced to any time in jail loses his job. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link, but could you imagine the money that could be raised by this law in the US in just the US Presidential election cycle?
It is going to be hard for President Park to launch an anti-corruption campaign in the wake of the Sewol ferry boat tragedy when the people around her that are supposed to implement it are all taking bribes if the allegations are true:
Sung, the chairman of Keangnam Enterprises, died in an apparent suicide after leaving the list.
Although President Park ordered the prosecution to conduct a thorough investigation into the graft scandal, Sunday, Cheong Wa Dae has refrained from commenting on the issue.
In a bid to fight corruption, she vowed again Thursday that anyone who is found to be involved in any illicit activities will face the consequences without exception.
Park’s biggest political hurdle would appear to be the besieged prime minister, because Lee is leading the government’s ambitious anti-corruption campaign.
The Kyunghyang Shinmun, which interviewed Sung hours before his death, reported Tuesday that the businessman said he had given Lee 30 million won ($27,000) during the 2013 by-elections, when Lee ran for a parliamentary seat representing Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province.
Park has set her sights on fighting graft as part of strengthening her control because the April 16, 2014 sinking of the ferry Sewol, which hit her administration hard, was blamed on collusive ties between ferry operators, regulators and politicians.
In addition, Park’s plans to reform the debt-heavy pension system for civil servants and the stiff labor market are also expected to hit a snag amid intensifying political attacks from opposition parties. The processing of economy-related bills pending before the National Assembly is also not on the cards in the short-term. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but I don’t understand why the Korean politicians don’t just legalize bribery and just call it campaign contributions like how the US political system works.
It will be interesting to see what becomes of the latest scandal to plague the Park administration:
Seen here is the memo found on April 9, 2015, inside the jacket pocket of Sung Wan-jong, former head of Keangnam Enterprises Ltd., who killed himself while facing an investigation related to the overseas resources diplomacy project. The memo listed eight high-ranking government officials and Park’s aides and amounts of money. (Yonhap)
The disclosure of a so-called “bribery list” left behind by an embattled businessman at the center of a snowballing corruption scandal before he committed suicide continued to put the government of President Park Geun-hye on edge Saturday.
Sung Wan-jong, head of Kyeangnam Enterprise Ltd., killed himself by hanging on Thursday, hours before he was to appear before a Seoul court set to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him on various corruption charges.
A brief memo found in his trouser pocket dropped a bombshell in South Korean politics. Listed in the memo are the names of eight heavyweight politicians, all close confidants of Park, and won figures next to them, indicating that the money was delivered.
The eight politicians include Park’s two former chiefs of staff — Huh Tae-yeol and Kim Ki-choon — her current chief of staff, Lee Byung-kee, and Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo as well as Hong Moon-jong, a ruling party lawmaker who had served as the President’s campaign manager in 2012.
According to the local daily Kyunghyang, Sung said in an interview with it on Thursday right before committing suicide that he gave some 200 million won (US$182,000) in cash in to Hong and that he believes the money was used for Park’s election campaign.
“I don’t think he would have spent the money for himself. That was for the election,” he told Kyunghyang. The daily belatedly made public part of the phone interview. [Yonhap]
Jasmine Lee is the first non-Korean member of the National Assembly in South Korea and the Korea Herald has an interview with her published that discusses some of her views:
When the governing Saenuri Party picked Jasmine Lee to serve as a lawmaker in April 2012, hate groups attacked her as a “dark-skinned” foreigner posing as a Korean.
Saenuri officials hoped Lee would encourage “diversity” in a dominantly homogenous, and sometimes xenophobic South Korea, to better represent naturalized citizens, foreign laborers, and other minorities in the National Assembly.
She has done her best to meet the expectations, Lee said in an interview with The Korea Herald earlier this month, but the country has a long way to go.
“There has never been a multicultural society in South Korea,” she said. “So officials here don’t know exactly how to support such families here.” [Korea Herald]
Here is what she had to say about mixed race males serving in the ROK military:
South Korea’s Constitution obligates physically and psychologically fit men to serve 21 months in the armed forces. But the military did not accept “multicultural” men until 2011, as officials thought they would lack the social skills to mingle with others in their unit.
Lee has a son with her late Korean husband, who is likely to enter the military sometime next year. She said incorporating men from multicultural families was a step in the right direction.
“A Justice Ministry official once suggested that ‘multicultural’ servicemen serve in segregated units,” Lee said.
“I asked the official if those multicultural men would fight separately from other units if a war broke out. He said no.”
Is this really the best that the ruling Korean government can provide for a Prime Minister nominee? A guy who is accused of intimidating journalists, avoiding active military service, and plagiarizing his thesis?
President Park Geun-hye’s pick for prime minister came under fire from opposition lawmakers Tuesday as they accused him of controlling the freedom of the press and lying in order to avoid active military service.
Lee Wan-koo, a former floor leader of Park’s ruling Saenuri Party, has been under pressure to withdraw his name from consideration for the country’s No. 2 political job following allegations he exerted influence on the media to stop them from carrying negative reports about him.
He also allegedly suggested at a recent lunch with reporters that he could influence personnel reshuffles at media companies.
His reported comments have sparked national outrage in a country where people fought past military-backed governments to gain press freedom.
“I apologize a hundred times,” Lee said during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly. “I apologize once again to the relevant members of the press and the press in general for my inappropriate behavior, and I am deeply remorseful.”
Rep. Kim Gyeong-hyeop of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) raised fresh allegations that Lee threatened to make a phone call to editors if a reporter published negative articles about him. (…………………)
During the hearing, Rep. Jin Sun-mee of NPAD accused the nominee of lying in order to avoid active military service.
Lee completed his mandatory military service in reservist duty after being diagnosed with a syndrome that can lead to flat feet.
Rep. Jin claimed, however, that Lee was deemed fit for active service following his first physical exam in 1971 and only later reclassified according to the results of an additional physical exam he took in 1975.
She also raised suspicions that the nominee could have used his power to alter the results of the latter exam after having passed the prestigious state civil service exam a year earlier.
Lee held up several X-ray photos which he said showed the condition of his leg in 1964, 1975 and as recently as 2009. He declined, however, to comment on the first physical exam he took in 1971.
The nominee is also accused of speculating in real estate, plagiarizing his doctoral thesis and intentionally omitting parts of his annual wealth report.
He acknowledged that his thesis did not meet the strict ethical standards of today when it comes to citations, but argued that he still wrote the paper independently using his own data and analytical methods. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but President Park must view this guy as a real loyalist to put him up as a nominee despite all the baggage he brings.
It looks like the Park administration is upset with some of the details included in former President Lee Myung-bak’s book about his time in office:
The Blue House expressed its annoyance with the memoir released by former President Lee Myung-bak Friday, saying it would not help national interest.
A senior Blue House official speaking on the condition of anonymity said Lee’s revelations of behind-the-scenes talks with North Korean officials in particular would not improve current inter-Korean relations.
The official also said that Lee’s claim in the book about President Park Geun-hye’s real motives for opposing Lee’s plan to scrap the relocation of the central government to Sejong City was based on a “misunderstanding.”
The Blue House’s response, although unofficial, was clear annoyance as the release of the former president’s memoir was brought forward to Friday, three days ahead of its original schedule.
The memoir comes out at a time when President Park’s approval ratings have hit 29 percent, the lowest level since she took office two years ago.
Media reports on leaked manuscripts of the book said that Lee thought Park objected to his revisions to the Sejong City plan because she was worried that former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, who led the campaign on behalf of the Lee government, could emerge as a threat to her presidential ambitions.
In a press briefing held by Kim Du-woo, former presidential secretary for public relations at the Lee Blue House who participated in writing the memoir, the former president tried to exclude experiences that could trigger political controversy. Kim said the current Blue House occupants would understand Lee’s true intentions once they read the entire book. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
It really wouldn’t be surprising if a politician was concerned about another politician gaining advantage over them, so nothing shocking there. I do not understand why the Park administration would be upset with this assessment that only the most partisan wacko leftist will not admit to being true:
In the memoir entitled “The President’s Time,” Lee touches on inter-Korean relations with a highly critical view of the engagement policy carried out by the two liberal governments that preceded him. Lee said North Korea misused the good intentions of the Seoul government and pursued nuclear weapons development with the financial assistance and economic cooperation provided under Seoul’s “Sunshine Policy.”
You can read more at the link, but Lee’s book has reportedly also made the claim that the North Koreans wanted $10 billion to hold a summit between the two nations. The book will also be translated into English which means I will have to add this to my reading list.
President Park is continuing the trend of Korean Presidents quickly becoming unpopular with the public after they do not live up to their promises:
President Park Geun-hye’s approval rating has gone down to 30 percent, the lowest since she took office on Feb. 25, 2013, according to a survey released Friday.
The record low rate appears to have been prompted by the fiasco involving the government’s new tax settlement scheme coupled with Park’s no-compromise stance, experts said.
Gallup Korea conducted a poll of 1,001 adults between Tuesday and Thursday, which shows Park’s rating at 30 percent, down from 35 percent the previous week.
Respondents who negatively evaluated Park’s management of state affairs reached 60 percent, up from 55 percent. Among them, 17 percent accused Park of poor communications, while 15 percent cited the possible tax boost amid lingering controversy over the bungled tax policy.
“Last week’s falling popularity could be attributed to her New Year speech that only showed a gap between her perception and public expectations,” Gallop said in its statement. “The continuous decrease this week can be attributable to furious employees over income tax.”
More than 15 million employees are upset over a possibly increased amount of tax payment in their year-end tax filings, despite the government’s explanation that only high-income earners would have to pay more tax.
It was noted that a considerable number of those aged over 50, Park’s main support base, seem to have withdrawn their support.
The results show that only 38 percent of those over 50 still support the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee, while her over-60 supporters was reduced to 53 percent from 62 percent. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but I think this is the backlash from making campaign promises to get elected and then having to deal with reality when in power. A perfect example of this is the promise not to raise taxes, but the government found a back door way to take people’s money without raising taxes by instead eliminating deductions.
Yoo Sang-bum, a senior prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office, announces the outcome of an investigation into a controversial presidential document on Jan. 5, 2014. The prosecution conluded that the document alleging a former aide to President Park Geun-hye tried to exert undue influence on state affairs was fabricated by a senior police officer. (Yonhap)
A presidential document claiming a former aide to President Park Geun-hye tried to exert undue influence on state affairs was fabricated by a senior police officer, prosecutors said Monday.
The document centers around allegations that Jeong Yun-hoe, who was President Park’s adviser before she was elected, pulled strings to try and replace the president’s current chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon.
Announcing the interim outcome of their probe, investigators at the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office said that they have concluded that Supt. Park Kwan-cheon authored and leaked the document.
The document was then handed over to the president’s younger brother, Ji-man, who is also the chairman of EG Group, an electronic materials producer, under the orders of former presidential secretary Cho Eung-cheon.
Cho was indicted on charges of leaking confidential information, and violating the Presidential Records Management Act, prosecutors said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but considering how this document was intended to take out Jeong Yun-hoe it is pretty clear that he must have been still providing advice to the President which others around Park must not have liked.
