[Opinion] ‘Right Will Prevail in the End’

“Right will prevail in the end” is one of favorite sayings that politicians often use. People often use this proverb whenever a falsely accused person turns out to be innocent or when a court finally finds an accused opponent as guilty after long fierce legal proceedings. MDP advisor Kwon Roh-kap, who was indicted for taking 50 million won from Jin Seung-hyun, said this proverb after the appeals court declared him innocent in July. Also when Rep. Kang Sam-jae, who allegedly diverted some of the state intelligence agency`s budget to finance the election campaign of the then-ruling New Korea Party, was convicted of criminal charges (although it drew a strong backlash from the Grand National Party), the Millennium Democratic Party and the United New Party-now the Uri Party said, “Right prevails in the end.”

Rep. Jeong Dae-chul of the Uri Party also uttered the same proverb on Thursday. He spoke the proverb right after Justice Minister Kang Keum-shil said, “The prosecution has never investigated Jeong’s alleged mishandling of the presidential campaign funds unlike what some media reported.” Jeong said, “After the presidential election, I have been grilled over the presidential campaign funds and on many other gossip topics. Accusing me as a corrupted politician is an unbearable offense to me. However, the right will prevail in the end. His comment must have come from his relief that he proved his innocence over misunderstanding.

As the prosecution’s investigation makes progress over illegal campaign funds, many politicians’ names have been often mentioned in the media. Sometimes their full names were revealed and sometimes only their initials were released. Although their names are not yet identified, there was a report that prosecutors seized critical evidence that would prove four or five lawmakers’ involvement in the illegal campaign fund spending. Some politicians may feel wrongfully accused if their names are mentioned in the media. However, even if they are indeed wrongfully accused, the truth will win out in the long run. If you do good deeds, you will eventually be blessed, and if you do misdeeds you will ultimately be punished. This is the philosophy we can learn from the proverb “Right will prevail in the end.”

However, the wisest way of behavior would be to avoid any possible situations that would cause you to be misunderstood or wrongfully accused. Just a couple of years ago, politicians did not have to worry about being caught for illegal transactions of political funds. However, the world has now changed. In these days, if an illegal transaction is made, even if it is a small sum of money, the details are eventually disclosed. The prosecution’s investigation that has revealed much of the truth over various slush fund scandals illustrates this. This is also a good example of the proverb.

It is now important for politicians to promise themselves that they will never be involved in corruption no matter the reason. Well, I wish Korean politics will become so great that no politician would have to say “Right Will Prevail in the End” any more.

Song Young-Eon, youngeon@donga.com