[Editorial] Ruling party and Park's morality

We are awfully embarrassed by media reports about Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) lawmaker Park Sang-Hee, who is also the president of Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KFSB).

The company that Park owns, Mijoo Group, is a basket case firm, which was about to go bankrupt. But it has barely been resuscitated by the support of taxpayers` public funds. Unmindful of such situations, Park was recently seen brazenly sitting right beside Minister of Finance and Economy Jin Nyum in a government and business consultative meeting to make policy recommendations in his capacity as the president of one of the country`s five major economic organizations. The day after the meeting, Park sold at a high price the land he owns to the ailing Mijoo, which was taking steps for a workout. This was discovered by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). The FSC referred Park`s firm to the National Tax Service for any tax evasions or business irregularities. Now, Park is seen as a failed, corrupt businessman by the media.

Park argues that there was nothing wrong with what he did, because it was, according to Park, done before his company went into a workout process. We are, however, very doubtful about the authenticity of his claim in view of his recent behavior, making us question his integrity. The FSC is by no means such a loose, distrustful financial watchdog committee as to make public its actions against Park`s company without obtaining sufficient evidence. If it is, it raises a serious question about the government`s credibility and authority.

We do not think that the issue is simply a matter related only to Park`s moral hazard. We should like to think that the matter reflects the serious moral hazard of the MDP to which Park belongs, as well as the ruling elite of the governing party that secured him a proportional National Assembly seat.

Park`s proportional legislative seat was a political compensation of sorts to reward the merit that he led some 300 heads of the KFSB`s member firms to join the MDP just before the last general election. The public opinion at that time was very critical about the political morality of Park`s move and the MDP. Park countered then by making it clear that he would soon resign from the KFSB presidency. To date, however, he has never honored his statement though he became a legislative member.

Moreover, our profound disappointment lies in the fact that the MDP assigned him to be a member of the parliament`s political affairs committee, which is a legislative standing committee, to supervise the FSC. The FSC supervises the workouts of the Mijoo Group Park owns. If the assignment was made due to the MDP`s oversight, this reflects the incompetence of the ruling party. If the party did it knowingly, it is a clear case that demonstrates the MDP`s political immorality as well as its highly questionable will for reforms.

According to FSC officials, they have met all sorts of pressure from Park and his cronies during their investigations, giving the officials enormous disruptions and confusion. The FSC at first was reluctant to disclose the name of Park`s firm under its probe. This in fact caused some unfortunate skirmishes with reporters. We suspect that it was because Park was a parliamentary member.

If the administration is really determined to accelerate its reform drives in the latter phase of Kim`s tenure, it must promptly carry out rigorous probes into the Mijoo Group for any tax evasions or irregularities. If MDP has any will to respect the party`s honor as a ruling party, it must remove Park from the political affairs standing committee as well as the KFSB presidency.