Lee Wan-koo’s Resignation: a New Episode in the South Korean Saga

Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Wan-koo tendered his resignation on April 20, 2015 after being in the job less time than every one of his predecessors in the history of the country. The notion of corruption in ROK is understood much more widely than in Russia, and includes a complex system of informal relations to lure an official or a politician in order to enlist his help in the future through moral obligation. If desired, a scandal of this nature could be overblown in respect of 90 percent of politicians, regardless of their political views.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Wan-koo tendered his resignation on April 20, 2015 after being in the job less time than every one of his predecessors in the history of the country. His resignation was due to allegations of bribery, which makes it worthwhile to more closely examine the situation and analyze the recent developments that have led to the scandal resulting in the prime minister’s resignation.

Corruption has traditionally been considered a serious problem in South Korean society. However, the notion of corruption in ROK is understood much more widely than in Russia, and includes a complex system of informal relations to lure an official or a politician in order to enlist his help in the future through moral obligation. On the other hand, a politician of a certain level has to be a Maecenas, dealing out gifts on different occasions, including birthdays and weddings, or to prominent people, as well as working on charitable causes. Therefore, money from secret funds, which are widespread in Korea, is not necessarily used just for bribery or political lobbying.

However, because of this a politician usually owes the group of businessmen who invest money in him in exchange for receiving possible preferences in the future. This practice is quite widespread and, if desired, a scandal of this nature could be overblown in respect of 90 percent of politicians, regardless of their political views. Former President Roh Moo-Hyun committed suicide after his involvement in corruption had been revealed. The children of Presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung as well as President Lee Myung-bak’s elder brother served time in jail for corruption, and Lee Wan-koo faces a similar fate.

There is nothing strange about the fact that the fight against corruption in South Korea is part of the political struggle, which makes it possible to blackball virtually any undesirable candidate without breaking the law. Indeed, is there anything as fair as the fight against corruption? Current president of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye also took advantage of this practice and is now facing a difficult political situation.

Although Park Geun-hye belongs to the right-wing conservatives, she is regarded as rather moderate, and is therefore coming under attack. The left opposition is implacable: she is the daughter of president-dictator Park Chung-hee, whose role in the country's history has been controversial. On the one hand, Park Chung-hee was the Father of the Korean economic miracle, but on the other hand, he was an authoritarian dictator. During the last years of his rule, the differences between the North and the South were not as stark as it is generally assumed.

Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon
Han) Park Geun-hye

The contemporary left opposition consists of the heirs of the dissidents of that time. They consider the daughter to be the true successor of her father’s policy.

As a result, Park Geun-hye’s personnel resources are rather scarce, and she has to burnish her credentials through momentous actions, while clearing the political space for herself and her supporters. Given that under former President Lee Myung-Bak, the fight against corruption lost substantial momentum, Park Geun-hye initiated a new round of renewing the fight, trying to eliminate the structures that profited by it, especially within the framework of the so-called “Resource Diplomacy” that involved the purchase of shares in energy carrier deposits to maintain the energy security of the Republic of Korea. In general, these efforts proved to be futile. Moreover, fairly serious corrupt practices emerged, which undermined the position of radical conservatives close to Lee Myung-bak.

One of the victims was Sung Wan-Jong, CEO of the large company Keangnam Enterprises which had links with a number of politicians from the ruling party and was closely involved in Resource Diplomacy. The investigation revealed that these links included supporters of both Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. Sung Wan-Jong had many people who owed him, and when his situation worsened, he turned to them for help, but to no avail. Then Sung Wan-Jong decided to go without scandal and committed suicide. In the Korean tradition, this means the conclusion of the criminal case since the person redeemed his crimes with blood. In addition, before his death Sung Wan-Jong published the list of at least eight persons to whom he had given bribes. The list included the names of the current Prime Minister and the head of the Presidential Administration as well as of other influential persons. The sums of the bribe varied from 100 to 700 million won (90-630 thousand dollars).

However, Lee Wan-koo’s name was mentioned in connection with events dating back to 2007, when his status was quite different. Lee Wan-koo did not hold positions of influence during the rule of Lee Myung-bak. Moreover, according to the law, the statute of limitations in relation to corruption crimes of this kind is seven years and has already expired. During this time, the investigation has no real evidence of the alleged crime, except for the words of the late individual, and even the sum of the bribe paid to Lee Wan-koo (unlike the others) was not specified. So it is not quite clear whether a crime was really committed.

Then an opposition newspaper Kenhyan Sinmun published an interview with Sung Wan-Jong, in which he explicitly stated that he had given the current Prime Minister 30 million won (about 27 thousand dollars) in 2012, when the latter was running for parliament.

All the persons whose names were on the list immediately denied allegations and declared that they were slander, but society felt that the rumors were not unfounded, all the more so since Park Geun-hye’s opponents jumped at a chance to overblow the scandal in the current political situation. Moreover, Lee Wan-koo at first denied his acquaintance with Sung Wan-Jong, but then it turned out that they had maintained rather close ties. Many regarded this as circumstantial evidence. Not wanting to inflame passions, Lee Wan-koo offered his early resignation to the President. This resignation was not surprising, but it was expected after Park Geun-hye’s return from a visit to Latin America. In the meantime, Park Geun-hye expressed her deep regret over Lee Wan-koo’s decision and called on the prosecutor's office to conduct a thorough investigation of the case within the framework of the renovation of the country’s political system.

How will the situation develop as the result of this and what can be expected? The investigation will be continued, and it is believed that Sung Wan-Jong’s list may well include many more names belonging to representatives of different factions of the ruling party and to opposition figures. Park Geun-hye’s rating is declining. Until she returns, the country will be ruled by Deputy Prime Minister for Strategy and Finance, and the President is likely to face certain difficulties with the appointment of the next Prime Minister, because it is necessary to avoid any situation that could put a downer on the prestige of the potential head of government. It is worth recalling that Lee Wan-koo was Park Geun-hye’s third attempt to appoint prime minister. Her two previous candidates withdrew their nominations: one of them had problems with taxes, and the other was reminded of the odious statements made by him in 2007- 2009.

However, talk of a large-scale political crisis is too far-fetched. The current developments look more like another round of factional struggle. The premiership in the Republic of Korea is largely technical and in a way it boils down to taking responsibility for the mistakes of the regime or even man-made disasters that create a nationwide storm, as was the case with the previous Prime Minister who tendered his resignation, holding himself responsible for the mishandling of the Sewol ferry disaster.