Lame duck in the fifth year

In January 2008, President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s confidant Rep. Lee Jae-oh held a book signing event in Mungyeongsaejae in North Gyeongsang Province. The lawmaker explained why he chose the location, saying, “Mungyeongsaejae has a tough height that can be the starting point of the Grand Canal Project on the Korean Peninsula.” Around 10,000 people flocked to the event because the presidential election was just over and Lee Jae-oh was a political celebrity in Korea. Rep. Lee Sang-deuk, President Lee’s brother, disapprovingly said, “Lee Jae-oh wants to do his own politics.” The event split the Lee administration into two groups.

Choi See-joong, former chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, belongs to the senior group of the ruling Saenuri Party that hails from Yeongil and Pohang with Lee Sang-deuk. At the beginning of the new administration, Choi told his confidants, “Now, young guys have to take a step back (for us).” After that, the junior group said in the back, “That means senior members want to take some (benefits) while standing in the front.” As time went by, young members got angry at senior members who were pro-Lee Myung-bak. When Choi was investigated by prosecutors due to alleged corruption in permits and approval of a real estate development project called “Pi-City,” the young group said the time had come.

The Lee administration is no exception to the lame duck state, though it used to deny corruption scandals. The administrations of Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung also made noise as their sons turned out to be involved in corruption in the last year of their respective presidencies. The last year of the Roh Moo-hyun administration was decorated with the corruption of Jeong Yoon-jae, the key member of the pro-Roh group. As a term nears an end, President Roh loses power over state affairs and age-old issues of the ruling party often rear their ugly head. Under the Kim Young-sam administration, the president`s son Hyun-chul and the ruling party were at odds with each other. Under the Roh administration, the presidential office dominated by Roh’s hometown “Busan” group came into conflict with the ruling party. This is the fifth-year syndrome of the Korean presidency, which unveils the ugly inside of power.

Rep. Lee Jae-oh posted on Twitter on Wednesday, “The closer you are to the president, the stricter the punishment should be for corruption.” His comment seems to target Choi and Lee Sang-deuk, who are both under investigation. Lee Sang-deuk met acting Saenuri chief Park Geun-hye Tuesday and said, “When I was a secretary-general, Lee Jae-oh and Kim Moon-soo were first-time lawmakers and I had a hard time controlling them.” This looks like the telling of tales. It is pretty common to see this kind of situation when power is being lost. It is pathetic, however, to see this person struggle to survive.

Editorial Writer Jeong Yeon-wook (jyw11@donga.com)