Lee’s new Cabinet camouflage

Posted on : 2009-09-14 13:02 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

Korean pop idol Park Jae-bum, the leader of 2PM and second generation Korean-American who was raised in New Jersey, has been the center of a recent controversy over remarks that he posted on his MySpace page when he had first visited South Korea four years ago.

On his page, he had written, ‘Korea is gay,’ ‘i hate Korea,’ and ‘I want to go back to the States again.’ He recently released a public apology before resigning that says, “I was young, didn’t have enough sense and because it was a difficult period, and I made these mistakes due to the situations I was facing at that point in time.”

Behind him, President Lee Myung-bak leads high ranking Cabinet-designates in camouflaging themselves as they prepare to assume public office. Lee Kwi-nam, the justice minister-designate, issued a public apology on September 12 for falsifying his address. Although he faces a confirmation hearing later this week, it is being reported that 10 high ranking minister-level officials of 55 that have been successfully confirmed since President Lee Myung-bak’s inauguration have faced allegations for attempting to falsify residency information, and President Lee himself is guilty of committing the same offense.

Park has said, “In Korea, speaking carelessly can draw more criticism than disobeying the law.”

(Hankyoreh Geurimpan, September 14, 2009)

Most viewed articles