Tag: corruption

The Moon administration is continuing to try and push Cho Kuk into the powerful Justice Minister position despite the corruption allegations:

Cheong Wa Dae on Friday ratcheted up pressure on the National Assembly to hold a confirmation hearing for the justice minister nominee, frustrated by a political dogfight over the issue.

Cho Kuk, a law professor who served as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, is at the center of intensifying bickering between ruling and major opposition parties.

Three weeks earlier, President Moon Jae-in nominated Cho to be the new justice minister amid his drive to reform the state prosecution.

Cho, however, has faced harsh political attacks and public condemnation over a host of scandals, including suspicions about his daughter’s entry into coveted schools in South Korea and dubious investment in a private equity fund (PEF) by Cho and his family members.

Political parties have agreed to open a two-day hearing next Monday but failed to reach a deal on details, including the list of witnesses.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) says the nominee’s wife and other family members should testify in parliament as well.

The ruling Democratic Party is opposed to the call, stressing that it’s enough to give Cho an opportunity to explain the scandals.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but obviously the ruling party does not want Cho Kuk’s family members to testify because there is no way to explain away the alleged corruption involving his daughter.

This whole Cho Kuk nomination shows how committed the Moon administration is towards changing the ROK Constitution to make it easier to form a confederation with North Korea and allow President Moon to run for a second term. Moon’s close friend Cho Kuk becoming the Justice Minister is part of this strategy.

After his confirmation the next part of their strategy will be increasing their hold in the National Assembly in the 2020 elections to facilitate changing the ROK Constitution. This is why the Moon administration needs to continue to play the anti-Japan card and depending how things go with North Korea, we may even see the anti-US card played as well leading up to the election.

How come I feel this is just a big dog and pony show to help smooth the way towards Cho Kuk nomination approval next week?:

The prosecution began investigating allegations surrounding justice minister nominee Cho Kuk and his family, Tuesday, carrying out large-scale search and seizure raids on a dozen schools and other facilities linked to the suspicions.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, investigators conducted searches at Busan Medical Center, and Seoul National (SNU), Korea, Dankook and Kongju National universities for evidence related to the allegations of preferential treatment given to Cho’s daughter in her college admissions and receipt of scholarships.

The law enforcement agency also sent investigators to a private equity firm that Cho made a huge investment in amid suspicions that he tried to transfer his wealth to his children without paying taxes; as well as a private school foundation run by his mother. 

Currently, 11 complaints have been filed with the prosecution regarding the scandal. 

“As public concern has been raised over the allegations against Cho, we decided to conduct the raids to clarify the facts,” a prosecutor said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but would anyone be surprised if the Blue House announces that these raids produced no evidence thus Cho’s nomination should be approved next week.

So does anyone think this bill is intended root out corruption or people that don’t agree with the politics of the Moon administration?:

he ruling Democratic Party (DP) decided Monday to fast-track two bills on establishing a special investigative unit tasked with probing allegations of corruption by high-ranking officials.
Earlier in the day, the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BP) proposed a separate bill on limiting the authority of the probe unit and fast-tracking both its bill and a relevant measure proposed by it and three other parties last week.
The National Assembly faces heightened tensions as the DP and three minor parties agreed last week to fast-track four bills linked to electoral reform and the establishment of a unit to investigate alleged corruption by high-ranking government and public officials. (………)

The BP bill calls for setting up a panel to review the appropriateness of charges filed by the probe unit, a tool aimed at preventing it from wielding excessive authority for indictment. Under the four parties’ deal, the unit will be able to indict only judges, prosecutors and high-ranking police officers, an institutional tool that can keep prosecutors in check.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Korean left’s prosecution of a members of the prior Park Geun-hye government for running a “cultural blacklist” is coming back to haunt them as they have done an arguably worse abuse of power in the Environment Ministry:

The prosecution is expanding its investigation into the environment ministry’s alleged “blacklist” to the presidential office as it is considering questioning a presidential secretary in charge of personnel affairs.

Since the main opposition Liberty Korea Party raised the allegation last December, prosecutors have confirmed some cases pertaining to a political purge. The ministry allegedly compelled 24 senior officials at its eight affiliated organizations appointed by the previous administration to step down so the posts could be filled with people loyal to the current government.

On Monday, the Seoul Eastern District Court held a hearing to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for former Minister Kim Eun-kyung on charges of abuse of power after banning her from traveling abroad in February. Kim led the ministry from July 2017 to November 2018.

According to the prosecution, the environment ministry investigated some of the officials who were refusing to step down to uncover individual wrongdoings or business-related mistakes. Following such pressure, a standing auditor at the Korea Environment Corp. (KEC), surnamed Kim, quit in March last year.

Now, believing it is improbable that the ministry did not create the blacklist by itself, the prosecution has been looking into whether Cheong Wa Dae pulled the strings from behind the scenes.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Conservative journalists were thrown in jail for libel even though they reported true information, and a presidential aide is convicted of corruption and is sentenced to jail, and yet is able to walk around a free man:

A court on Thursday handed down a six-year prison term to a former senior secretary to President Moon Jae-in over a corruption case related to a gaming industry body, and one year in jail, suspended for two years, for abuse of power.
Jun Byung-hun, an ex-presidential aide for political affairs and a former lawmaker, has been suspected of forcing two home shopping channels — Lotte Home Shopping and GS Home Shopping — and telecom company KT to donate 550 million won (US$514,260) between 2014 and 2017 to the Korea e-Sports Association, over which he practically held control. But he was not taken into custody after the ruling. 
The Seoul Central Court also slapped him with a fine of 350 million won and an overdraft fee of 25 million won.
The court did not issue a warrant to arrest him as it judged that “it is appropriate for him to appeal to a higher court and solve the dispute (with the prosecution) without detention.”
“His criminal responsibility is grave,” the court said in its verdict, adding that Jun damaged the fairness and integrity of parliament by accepting bribes from companies related to his parliamentary activities.

Yonhap News

You can read more at the link.

Dr. Tara O over at the East Asia Research Center has another very interesting article published about how government compensation payments to “meritorious persons” from the Gwangju Uprising are so much higher than those given to Korean and Vietnam War veterans:

The Gwangju Incident that began on May 18, 1980 is referred to as “5.18” in Korea.  Those designated as 5.18 Yugogja (5.18 “Meritorious Persons”) and their families receive extensive benefits from the South Korean government.  Unlike Korean War and Vietnam War veterans, whose status is determined by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans, the 5.18 Yugongja is determined in Gwangju.  While technically it falls under the Prime Minister’s office, de facto, the process and the decisions are made at the local government level.  However, it is the national government that pays the benefits.

East Asia Research Center

Below is an excerpt of a chart that shows the differences in compensation. Click the link to see the full chart:

Besides the extreme difference in compensation here is what makes this issue even more controversial is that the lists keeps growing. Plus politically connected people who were not even at Gwangju are now being selected as “meritorious persons” and getting the free cash and benefits:

For an event that occurred 39 years ago, it seems the number of 5.18 Yugongja should fall over time.  However, the number has been increasing, especially in recent years. In 1990, the first year the 5.18 Yugongja designation occurred, the number was 2,224.  As of August 2018, the number was 4,403.  In 2017, the number was 4,377, so it has increased by 26 in 8 months.  How is this possible?

It includes even those who were not present in Gwangju.  National Assemblyman Lee Hae-chan, the leader of the Deoburreo Minju Party, publicly admitted, “I became a Gwangju democracy Movement Yugongja, although I hadn’t even gone to Gwangju (then).” (0:30).  Lee Hae-chan was the former Prime Minister under Rho Moo-hyun and Education Minister under Kim Dae-jung. At least 30-40 other politicians are thought to be designated as 5.18 Yugongja.

This has caused conservative politicians to demand the release of the names of this growing list, but unlike the list of Korean and Vietnam War veterans this list is being kept secret. I think it is fair to say that certain people do not want the list released because it will show how it has become a way to reward politically connected people, thus why it keeps growing.

This “meritorious person” list reminds me of the National Medal of the Order of Merit for National Foundation where politically connected people are given generous stipends for this medal.

I am trying to think of an equivalent of politically connected corruption in the U.S. using a national medal of designation and I can’t think of one. The Presidential Medal of Freedom has long been given to politically connected people, but they are not getting huge payouts like in the ROK. Can anyone think of equivalent in the U.S. where politically connected people are getting huge payouts for an award or designation?

20 years is the sentence the Moon administration prosecutors are recommending that former President Lee Myung-bak be given if convicted of the corruption allegations against him:

Prosecutors on Thursday requested that a Seoul court sentence former President Lee Myung-bak to 20 years in prison for corruption and other charges.

The demand was delivered to the three-judge panel at the Seoul Central District Court in Lee’s trial that began in early May. Prosecutors also called for a 15 billion-won (US$13.4 million) fine and a forfeiture of 11.1 billion won for the disgraced ex-leader.

The court’s ruling is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Lee, president from 2008-2013, was indicted in April on 16 counts of corruption ranging from bribery, abuse of power and embezzlement to other irregularities. He has been under presentencing detention since his arrest in late March.

Lee’s charges center on long-held suspicions, which dogged him throughout most of his political career, that he is the real owner of an auto parts company named DAS and used his presidential powers to benefit the company as well as himself and his family.

Part of the bribes also includes $5.85 million in lawsuit expenses Samsung Electronics Co. allegedly paid on behalf of DAS.

The former Seoul mayor is also accused of taking about 11.1 billion won in bribes from the state intelligence agency and a former head of a state-run banking firm. Prosecutors suspect he embezzled about 35 billion won from DAS and used it for personal purposes.  [Yonhap]

Here is Lee Myung-bak’s response to the charges:

In Thursday’s hearing, Lee vented anger over the charges and maintained his innocence.

“I cannot stand how the charges against me have caught me in the trap of such a stereotypical image that everything is linked to money,” he told the court. “It is so humiliating as a person who has lived his whole life loathing corruption and back-scratching and being so vigilant against such things.”

Lee again denied ownership of DAS and said he never accepted anything from a conglomerate or its chief, referring to Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

“I do not own a single share in DAS … and I feel saddened, beyond rage, that (they) prosecuted me for freeing Chairman Lee in exchange for the lawsuit fees,” he said.

“All I have is the house I live in.”

It has long been suspected that the charges brought against Lee were political retaliation for the corruption investigation brought against former President Roh Moo-hyun during President Lee’s time in office.  Roh ended up committing suicide because of the investigation.  The Chief of Staff for President Roh was current President Moon Jae-in:

His lawyer accused prosecutors of carrying out a far-fetched investigation and called for a wise judgment by the court.

The charges against Lee are punishable by up to life imprisonment.

The scandal tainted his long-established image of a self-made man who started off as a salaryman and rose to the top post at one of the country’s leading companies in only 11 years, before he entered politics in 1992.

Lee has insisted this trial is political retaliation by the office of President Moon Jae-in over the death of late President Roh Moo-hyun, Lee’s predecessor. Roh committed suicide in 2009 while under a prosecution investigation into a slew of corruption allegations.

Lee’s associates have claimed that Moon, a key Roh ally who served as Roh’s chief of staff, is trying to force the same humiliation back on Lee.

The 76-year-old is the fourth former president to face a criminal trial after ex-Presidents Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo and Park Geun-hye. Park is serving a 25-year jail term for corruption, pending a top court decision.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out, but considering the influence that the ruling party can have over the courts I fully expect that Lee will be convicted giving the Korean left the payback they have long demanded against former President Lee.

The piling on of former President Park Geun-hye continues:

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to eight years in prison for illegally taking off-book funds from the state spy agency and interfering in elections during her term in office.

Televised live, the Seoul Central District Court meted out the guilty verdict to the 66-year-old, who’s already serving a 24-year jail term on a string of corruption charges in a nation-rocking scandal that led to her ousting last year.

The court also ordered her to forfeit 3.3 billion won (US$2.91 million).  (…….)

She’s also been indicted for interfering in the then-ruling Saenuri Party’s candidate nominations for the 2016 general elections.

But the court on Friday acquitted her of the bribery charges, ruling that the NIS provisions of its funds to Park’s office were not paid in return for any favors.  [Yonhap]

So if the funds were provided by the NIS were not in return for favors then why were they providing them to former President Park?  Because they have been providing the funds to past ROK Presidents as well:

The court acknowledged that it has been customary for the spy agency to provide funds to the presidential office from its own state coffers, known as the untraceable special activities fund.

The fact that the then spy chiefs had delivered the funds to Park’s Cheong Wa Dae in a fixed amount, and on a regular basis, is far from the conventional way of paying someone a bribe, which usually comes in a lump sum payment at one time.  [Yonhap]

Basically what the NIS has been doing is giving the ROK President money to pay for things like cell phones and medical treatment that would not be subject to any government record keeping.  However, some of her expenses with this secret fund were definitely shady:

Park allegedly squandered the taxpayer money on maintaining her private house, financing a boutique where her secret confidante Choi Soon-sil — the central figure in the corruption scandal — had Park’s clothes made and other private purposes, including massage treatment.  [Japan Times]

I think the most significant thing about this ruling is that if Park was convicted of receiving money from the NIS, then former President Lee Myung-bak who has also been arrested for corruption will also get convicted for the same thing if he received NIS special activities funds.

What I am wondering is if the NIS was also making the payments to former President Roh Moo-hyun as well?  The opposition party in South Korea has already claimed that the Roh administration had their own special activities fund they wanted a special counsel to investigate.

The proposed investigation largely targets key figures from the former liberal Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations of 1998-2008. It also seeks to check whether the NIS and prosecution under the incumbent government have misused their funds.

“The misappropriation of special activity funds has long been a practice, so to speak, and it is one of Korea’s representative ills,” the request reads. “We demand institutional improvements be made by addressing the suspicions through a thorough investigation.” [Yonhap]

So far the Moon administration has not allowed any investigation into the prior Roh and Kim administration’s use of special activities funds.

Former President Roh committed suicide after the Lee Myung-bak administration began an investigation into him taking bribes.  There would be no legal implications if the NIS gave him money since he is deceased, but it would still be an interesting fact to know.  President Roh was hugely popular with the South Korean left and current President Moon Jae-in was his chief of staff at the time.  This is likely why the prior left wing administration will not be investigated.

This is also why the conservatives in South Korea consider the arrest and imprisonment of former Presidents Lee and Park as political payback for causing Roh’s suicide by exposing his corruption.

Choi Soon-sil, the confidante of ousted President Park Geun-hye, arrives at the Seoul High Court on May 4, 2018, to attend a hearing for her appeals trial over a string of corruption charges that led to Park’s ouster. In February, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Choi to 20 years in prison for abusing power for personal financial gain and other crimes. (Yonhap)