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[Editorial] Lee and Park Should Play Fair

Posted July. 10, 2007 03:05,   

한국어

Three days ago, the prosecution embarked on investigations into the people accused by the election camp of Lee Myung-bak, former Seoul mayor and presidential hopeful of the Grand National Party.

The move was made only three days after the case was assigned to the special investigation team of the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office and the prosecution declared that it would dig into the bottom of the case and provide the public with clear answers. The swift action indicates the prosecution’s strong will for an early conclusion to the matter.

Rep. Lee Jae-oh of GNP, who is effectively leading Lee’s campaign, said that the case was a simple defamation case and the investigation should wrap up within three days, for fear of the investigation taking a wrong turn and working against Lee. That is just a wishful thought.

The involvement of the prosecution reminds one of the 2002 presidential election scene when investigations into then-GNP candidate Lee Hoe-chang, whose sons were illegally exempted from compulsory military service, eventually became the determining factor in the election. Nobody knows where this year’s investigation will lead us. Inviting prosecution was the wrong choice in the first place. Inviting a body responsible for criminal investigations as a judge for party primary is as good as denying the very existence of the party. I cannot but ask what they are having a primary for.

“(Inviting the prosecution) is an absurd move. It’s like put the party under the trusteeship of the prosecution,” said Kang Jae-sup, chairman of GNP, in an interview with this newspaper yesterday. “We’re asking for Trojan horse,” deplored Kang. He is pleading to Lee’s camp to drop all the charges, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen. Kim Jae-won, spokesperson of presidential candidate Park Geun-hye’s camp, egged on the prosecution by saying, “The 2002 presidential election result was determined by opinion polls, and this year’s will be determined by bank account probes.” That is not very respectful of public judgment.

Still, Lee’s and Park’s camps are eager to find faults with each other, brandishing “X-files” from unidentified sources. They even secretly contact media outlets to ask if they are willing to publish the content of those files. They criticized the ruling party and the presidential office for political maneuvering, but now they are doing the same.

Hong Joon-pyo, yet another presidential bidder of GNP, urged that the two sides (Lee and Park) should cancel all their accusations to block the intervention of the prosecution in the primary and election process, but that is not enough. They should apologize to the public and start a fair competition by stopping their mudslinging and starting to promote their own merits as the possible future president of Korea.

The two candidates should remind themselves why they decided to run for the presidency in the first place. If they play fair, they will not have to worry about the prosecution or other powers influencing primary. The public will be on their side.