hankyoreh

Bahn Joo-hyun

On Jan. 11, the day before former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s return to South Korea, news reached South Korea via the foreign press that Ban’s younger brother Ban Ki-sang and his nephew Bahn Joo-hyun had been indicted by a New York court on charges of bribery.

At the very moment that Ban hopes to launch his political career with his arrival in South Korea, he is facing a grueling campaign of vetting by his political opponents.

Most of South Korea’s presidents have run into trouble because of their relatives and close associates, and attention is focusing on the fact that Ban has been tripped up by a scandal involving his relatives just before returning to South Korea. In the indictment, US prosecutors even state that Ban’s brother and nephew attempted to take advantage of Ban’s position as UN Secretary-General. Regardless of the veracity of the accusations, the charges will inevitably result in serious political fallout for Ban.

The allegations from New York were brought to public attention at the end of last year by Song Hyeon-seop, a member of the opposition Minjoo Party‘s supreme council. “Ban’s nephew exploited the fact that his uncle was the UN Secretary-General to commit fraud. He is currently entangled in 13 lawsuits in the American courts,” Song said, raising the possibility that there are more allegations to come.

Even Ban and his associates were apparently caught off guard by the reports that appeared in the foreign media on Jan. 11. “We had no idea that these reports would appear right when Ban was returning to South Korea. It‘s extremely unfavorable that these allegations are the first thing Ban has to talk about when he gets home,” said one figure affiliated with Ban.

Allegations were also raised last month that Ban had received money from Park Yun-cha, former chairman of Taekwang Industrial. Ban’s image as a squeaky clean public servant and diplomat who has remained faithful to his convictions for his entire life could be tarnished in no time at all.

“Ban himself learned about this from reading the news. He couldn‘t have known anything about it and must have been extremely surprised. When the results of the ongoing investigation are announced, subsequent measures will be taken,” said Lee Do-un, Ban’s spokesperson, when asked about the case involving Ban‘s brother and nephew on Jan. 11.

nephew of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

News about the case involving Ban’s brother and nephew broke in South Korea in May 2015 while Ban was visiting Incheon. “I’m unaware of my nephew’s business activities, I‘ve never been involved in them and they are completely unconnected with me,” he said at the time.

But allegations could linger for a long time to come considering that the case is linked to the sale of a building in Vietnam owned by Keangnam Enterprises, that Ban’s brother Ki-sang served as a senior executive at Keangnam Enterprises and that Ban himself was close to late Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong. Ban’s presidential aspirations also appear prominently in a recorded telephone conversation with Sung, who left behind a list of political contributions when he committed suicide in 2015.

The political opposition is waiting for the right moment. “The first thing that Ban ought to do after returning to South Korea is to clearly answer the various allegations that have been raised,” said Minjoo Party spokesperson Park Gyeong-mi.

“We hope that Ban will realize that there’s no royal road prepared for his return to South Korea,” Park said, suggesting that the party will be launching a full-scale campaign to dig up dirt on Ban.

Politicians are watching closely to see whether Ban’s return will stir up public expectations and increase his support or whether these expectations will be overshadowed by the ongoing allegations.

“After Ban is back, he will need to focus all of his energy on winning this battle before the Lunar New Year extended holiday begins. The outcome will be decided by how truthfully he deals with and extricates himself from the onslaught of scrutiny he will be under soon after his return,” said a veteran lawmaker with the ruling Saenuri Party.

It’s clear that the ferocious vetting process will continue until Lunar New Year, and the question of whether Ban can survive the vetting and build momentum for a presidential run will be a turning point in the campaign, the lawmaker predicted.

By Seok Jin-hwan, staff reporter

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