Political liberals in Korea face a major crisis as a chain of corruption scandals damages their reputation.
Former President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday admitted that his wife received money from a businessman arrested for bribery.
On his Internet homepage, he also said he knew that the same man sent $5 million to his nephew-in-law for investment.
The former leader broke his silence as soon as prosecutors arrested his long-time friend and aide, who is suspected of playing the middleman in the illicit dealings.
Roh worried that his loyal supporter may have tried to take the blame for the couple`s actions.
Prosecutors are considering questioning Roh and his wife Kwon Yang-suk possibly late next week after securing hard evidence.
Corruption at the highest level is not new in Korea. Two general-turned-presidents were imprisoned for amassing slush funds worth hundreds of billions of won. Two democracy fighter-turned-presidents saw their sons put behind bars for bribery.
Nevertheless, Roh`s confession is shocking to the many Koreans who believe him to be a politician unlikely to dabble in corruption.
Integrity was the biggest political capital of Roh and his liberal forces.
The former human rights lawyer won the 2002 election with pledges to eradicate corruption and restore justice.
Much of his campaign fund came from piggy banks that were filled by hundreds of thousands of voters.
But months after his inauguration, one of his two most trusted aides was convicted of taking illegal campaign funds from businessmen.
He overcame the crisis by confidently saying that he would resign if his party`s campaign fund exceeded a tenth of that of rival the Grand National Party.
The GNP, now the ruling party, had a history of receiving huge illegal funds from the nation`s largest business groups, including Samsung.
At the center of the scandal is Park Yeon-cha, chairman of Tae Kwang Industry Co. - a local production partner of global sports equipment brand Nike.
Park, once the finance chief of the GNP, also flirted with liberals based in his hometown Busan, where Roh began the pro-democracy movement in the 1980s.
Probably through cozy relationships with politicians from both camps, Park fast grew his construction, electricity, golf, and finance empire at home and abroad.
After Roh left office in February 2008, prosecutors and tax authorities dug up accounting books and investigated the political connections of Park, who was called Roh`s sponsor.
Park was arrested for tax evasion and bribery in December.
Park was the tipping point for a political bribery inquiry on an unprecedented scale.
Roh`s elder brother and several top politicians, including Roh`s top policy brain Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the Democratic Party and President Lee Myung-bak`s former spin doctor Choo Boo-kil, were arrested for taking money from Park.
Others under investigation include two former National Assembly speakers from the DP and the GNP. One was a political mentor to Roh and the other passed a parliamentary impeachment motion against Roh in 2004.
Roh`s other sponsor Kang Keum-won, chairman of Changshin Textile, faces arrest for embezzling company funds partly to help construction of Roh`s retirement house. Roh`s former strategist, Ahn Hee-jung, is under scrutiny for taking money for Kang.
The prosecutorial team, led by a man who has investigated three former presidents, is now rushing to conclude its investigation of Roh after more than six months of extensive investigation.
Initially, the opposition Democrats condemned the inquiry as political retaliation masterminded by President Lee.
They said the Lee administration mobilized agencies for tax, intelligence, auditing and law enforcement to purge Roh and his allies of their government posts and political representation.
However, the party has not concealed its sense of helplessness saying only that it will wait for the outcome of the investigations, including those into ruling GNP politicians.
"I am embarrassed. The public is witnessing an unwanted repeat of history. We should move history forward to the future," DP leader Chung Se-kyun told a DP presidium session.
Already hit by new factional strife, the party faces an increasingly grim prospect in the April 29 by-elections with five Assembly seats.
The damage is doomed to go beyond an electoral setback.
Roh-loyalists, though waning in influence and decreasing in number, constitute the core of the main opposition party. They stand to lose their reputations, their last resort of voter confidence.
"Morality is the bulwark of the Pro-Roh group and it is now crumbling," a DP politician said on condition of anonymity.
Many in the DP have distanced themselves from Roh who was criticized by conservatives for his sharp tongue and controversial policies that sought reconciliation with North Korea, alienated the United States and antagonized the wealthy and chaebol.
His website has been overwhelmed with postings of mixed responses since Monday.
The majority of messages expressed unwavering affection to Roh, who they still regard as a political reformer. Many who supported him expressed frustration and a sense of betrayal. Some simply condemned a politician they said was leftist, socialist, incompetent and now corrupt.
His backers pin their hopes on the way he confessed; Roh said he was worried that his oldest friend and aide may have admitted to taking the money when the real culprit was him and his wife.
His opponents say this is a ploy by the former president to gain sympathy while on the edge of the prosecutorial sword.
By Hwang Jang-jin
(jjhwang@heraldm.com)
[출처 : 코리아헤럴드]
No comments:
Post a Comment