[Opinion] Swindler Lee Han-jeong

A close look at the charges brought by the prosecution against Rep. Lee Han-jeong of the Creative Korea Party shows what an egregious swindler he is. After seeking favor from the Grand National Party and the former United New Democratic Party, he finally got a No. 2 spot for proportional representatives at the Creative Korea Party. After that, he continued to play the rogue by falsely presenting himself as vice chairman of the Financial Supervisory Service. His malicious acts culminated in his becoming a proportional representative in jail in exchange for contributing 590 million won to the Creative Korea Party.

According to court records, at the age of 24, he extorted 20,000 won from a daughter of the owner of an inn he stayed in, by deluding her into believing that he would help her land a job at an express bus company. Three years after that, he got a 6-kilogram of beef from a butcher by presenting himself as a general manager of a broadcasting company. He extorted money from innocent people by presenting himself as a news reporter and bilked an owner of a hotel in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, out of 1.39 million won by threatening to report him to the National Tax Service. When running in the 2000 general elections on the ticket of the then Democratic People’s Party, he carried in his campaign leaflets a manipulated picture featuring himself, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Article 64 of the Constitution stipulates that the National Assembly is authorized to assess the qualification of assemblymen and give them punishments. Considering lawmakers are elected by the people, the heaviest punishment is the expulsion from the parliament, which needs a two-third of majority. That said, the inspection of lawmakers’ qualifications is a must mandated by the Constitution. It costs an annual expense of 470 million won, including an annual salary of 167 million won, to keep one lawmaker. Siphoning off taxpayers’ money, lawmakers turn a blind eye on each other’s blemishes, making the article of qualification inspection in the Constitution obsolete.

When Rep. Lee refused to voluntarily leave the parliament, the Creative Korea Party filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to deprive him of his seat, saying that “they are also victims.” However, lodging a lawsuit will not help the CKP paper over its fault of selling the parliament seat to a swindler. Keen interest is being paid to what verdict the court will deliver. But it will take at least six months for the investigation into a nomination bribery case to complete, if the case is brought to the Supreme Court. During that time, Lee will be given monthly salaries. We cannot sit idly by and watch him take taxpayers’ money. The National Assembly should waste no time in inspecting his qualification. Lee’s court records are sufficient for him to be read out of the National Assembly.

Editorial Writer Kim Chang-hyeok (chang@donga.com)