hankyoreh

By Ahn Chang-hyun, Staff Writer

President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday referred to the current administration as “morally perfect.” The statement caused controversy because it seemed to fly directly in the face of the administration’s current situation, damaged by a series of corruption scandals among the president’s closest aides.

According to presidential spokesperson Park Jeong-ha, Lee unexpectedly attended an extended meeting of secretaries at the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) on Friday morning and said, “We need to consider the fact that this administration came into existence through a bribery-free election. Given that it is a morally perfect administration, we must leave not the slightest blemish on it.”

Previously, Lee has stressed several times that he received no illegal political funding during the 2007 presidential elections. But the recent detention of former senior presidential spokesman Kim Du-woo and charges against former vice culture minister Shin Jae-min of receiving more than a billion won [in bribes] have led to moral censure of the government.

“When corruption among wealthy people occurs, this frustrates society,” said President Lee, stressing the need for his officials to revive discipline. “The highest standards are those applied at Cheong Wa Dae.”

“I cannot help but laugh, considering the current stench of corruption coming from the president’s close associates and relations,” said Democratic Party (DP) spokesman Hong Young-pyo. “Only a president with no sense of morality could make such a statement.”

“President Lee took no money at the beginning of his administration, so he was talking about the need for it to stay that way until the end,” said one high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]