hankyoreh

Scandals involving aides and close associates of former presidents (2)

Since South Korea’s democratization, presidents have run into lame duck trouble toward the end of their terms. Without exception, every former president has endured a lame duck period. After passing the midpoint during the third year of their term, presidents’ close associates become embroiled in power struggles, and family members implicated in corruption.

But current president Park Geun-hye is already facing this crisis in the second year of her term, with her younger brother Park Ji-man, her associate Chung Yoon-hoi, and three secretaries known as the “Blue House triumvirate” accused of interfering in state affairs.

Politicians and experts alike point out that the second year of the presidency is far too early for Park to become a lame duck. The crisis was clearly foreshadowed by her approach to running the government, these experts say.

In previous administrations, presidents have lost their political power base in the latter half of their term when relatives or associates acted as powerbrokers or were accused of meddling in government affairs.

Former presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung ran into problems at the end of their terms because of their sons. Kim Young-sam‘s second son Kim Hyun-chul wielded authority as a backroom decision maker. He was even called “the little President.”

Kim Hyun-chul was suspected of meddling in government affairs in various ways, including the appointment of the YTN president brought to light by a Hankyoreh report. He was finally arrested in 1997, the fifth year of Kim Young-sam’s presidency, for being given hundreds of billions of won by the Hanbo Group.

In 2002, with one year left in his presidency, Kim Dae-jung went through some major grief as his three sons Hong-il, Hong-eop, and Hong-geol (known as the “Hong Trio”) got caught up in all kinds of scandals. Hong-eop and Hong-geol were even arrested and charged with taking bribes from corporations.

For former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak, elder brothers were the issue. Roh Geon-pyeong and Lee Sang-deuk were arrested on charges of corruption at the end of, or after, their younger brothers‘ terms.

But the current scandal involving Chung Yoon-hoi and Park Ji-man doesn’t have to do with corruption or some other illicit pursuit of personal interests, instead, it takes the form of a power struggle.

“The current controversy is similar to those in past administrations in the sense that it involves behind-the-scenes powerbrokers interfering in state affairs. One important difference, however, is that this scandal is a kind of power struggle, unlike the corruption scandals in previous administrations. Another is that this scandal occurred much faster than normal,” said Choi Chang-ryeol, political science professor at Yong In University.

Associates of former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak were also involved in power struggles, but those associates were already in charge of important state institutions or had significant authority in those institutions. There have been few examples of “civilians” fighting over power as we are seeing now.

Lee Gwang-jae, former governor of Gangwon Province who served as the Secretary to the President for Information and Policy Monitoring at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration was thought to wield disproportionate influence in state affairs and was plagued by various accusations. There was also conflict over which course to take inside the Roh Blue House about the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).

During the administration of Lee Myung-bak, a power struggle between former legislator Lee Sang-deuk and Saenuri Party (NFP) (then known as the Grand National Party) lawmaker Jeong Du-eon took place inside the National Assembly.

The scandal was foreshadowed by Park’s style of governance, politicians and experts agree. Appointing high-ranking officials - a critical component of running the government - has always been a thorn in Park’s side, and each time suspicions have been voiced that shadowy figures were involved in the appointments. This problem has been exacerbated by the fact that no official appointment system is in place.

“A president’s success rests upon his or her leadership style. The current scandal could have been predicted given the way that President Park is running the country. From the beginning of her term, Park has been hobbled by the issue of appointments. The increasing recrimination inside the Park administration has brought these problem areas to the fore more quickly,” said Lee Cheol-hee, director of the Dumun Political Strategy Institute.

Experts suggest that a viable alternative would be to adopt a public system for running the government.

“It’s true that a few presidential secretaries had a strong say in the government back then, but the system was such that appointments and policies reflected the opinions of the central appointment committee and the assessment of the relevant senior secretary’s office. But at the Blue House today, there is no public hierarchy in place, and Park’s close aides have too much influence. This seems to be why the system itself isn‘t functioning,” said a politician who worked as a Blue House secretary during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, on condition of anonymity.

“One problem is that more authority is vested in the Blue House secretaries than in the government ministers. The time has come for a change to be made in the way that President Park runs the government,” said Choi Chang-ryeol.

By Lee Seung-joon, staff reporter

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