To commemorate our upcoming election, a parable.
Now that Korea’s former president, Lee Myung-bak, heads back to jail, I’m reminded of a kind of idiosyncrasy of the Korean political system (and maybe Korea in general). They’ve still got to get over their propensity to think the old ways of getting things done – through power, bribery, graft, embezzlement – are no longer what people are willing to tolerate.
Just take a look at the four living former presidents.
Chun Doo-hwan – he was actually the guy in charge when I got here in ’83 – did jail time and still owes a butt-ton of money. He’s an old-fashioned kind of guy who was sentenced in part for being a military strong-man and actually, you know, killing people. The Gwangju massacre was a dark time and we may never know the whole truth, especially as more people who know what happened pass on.
Roh Tae-woo – succeeded Chun. Was convicted with him on treason and bribery charges. Was pardoned with him by Kim Youngsam in 1997. He owes a butt-ton of money too.
Park Geun-hye – daughter of Park Chun-hee (strong-man dictator who came to power in a military coup in 1961), was impeached and is in jail right now on a 25-year sentence for influence peddling. And a couple of other things…
And now back to Lee Myung-bak – convicted of bribery, embezzlement, and tax evasion – all while he was in office. His 17-year sentence and millions in fines was just upheld by the Supreme Court. Jail time.
The rest of Korea’s presidents (not counting interims) have had issues. Roh Moo-hyun killed himself 11 years ago due to allegations against family members. Kim Dae-jung was accused of paying off North Korea for a summit. Kim Yong-sam’s administration (and son) were involved in providing preferential treatment to a steel company (his son was sentenced to three years).
And that pretty much covers everyone since Park Chung-hee’s assassination in ’79.
The only question now is when the hammer is going to fall on the current president. Probably within a few years of leaving office.
Maybe we should start a pool.
And here’s the point of the parable — I really think Korea’s cleaning up its act. There’s a reason why these people are being jailed. While they may still have the tendency to think they can get away with an awful lot, it’s only a matter of time before the integrity of the office starts to catch up with its occupants.
On the other hand…