[Editorial] Korea’s Lobbying Issues

Every day, another lobbying and corruption scandal breaks out. Just recently, public officials and entrepreneurs were found to have collaborated on certificate licenses for “Sea Story” and an assembly member from the ruling party close to President Roh Moo-hyun was found to have opened a store under a false name and gained profit by publishing certificates, causing the prosecution to investigate the matter.

It is surprising that an assemblyman from the majority party was involved in the crime afflicting ordinary citizens.

A construction company building an apartment complex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, was found to have paid lobbying fees worth tens of billions of won to politicians. In the ‘lobby notes’ composed by the management of the construction company, records showed that lobbying had occurred involving politicians, public officials, and legal personnel. Korea is becoming a “lobbying republic” where nothing is impossible with money.

In the early stages of his administration, President Roh cited morality as his notable political asset, but as his term draws to an end, it seems that his administration is no different from previous governments. Observing the Sea Story and construction incidents, one can see that the structure and foundation for illegal lobbying and corruption are still in place.

Behind JU, the country’s largest pyramid sales company that earned 2 trillion won in sales in 7 years since its foundation, was Cheong Wa Dae, politicians, prosecutors, and police that were all linked in a bribe ring worth 10 billion won. Bribery linked to civil petitions or case investigations also occurs at present. The incident where employees of the Fair Trade Commission involved in the Hyundai Motors illegal inside trading investigation were bribed also shows the grave insensitivity to ethics. While shouting for ‘innovation’ at every given opportunity, have they innovated at all?

Korea is an economic power ranking 11th in exports, with more than $300 billion this year. According to the polling agency Gallup, in the ‘2006 Corruption Index,’ Korea ranked 43rd, even below Vietnam and Afghanistan. 11th place and 43rd place is an embarrassing difference.

Companies should also conduct ethical management. But government restrictions have created a ‘lobbying republic.’ By using restrictions to earn monopolizing favors, the only way is to lobby the political circle and the government. The core regulations in the current administration are clearly there, while the number of regulation cases has increased.

Weak punishment for corruption also engenders disregard for anti-corruption measures. In this sense we should observe the prosecution investigation results and the judgment of the court.