ID :
33688
Wed, 12/03/2008 - 13:58
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http://m.oananews.org//node/33688
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(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Dec. 3) Ex-president`s brother
It saddens us that every administration in this republic leaves an unsavory
legacy - the corruption of the presidential family. Sons, brothers, sisters and
in-laws of presidents have served time and faced huge forfeitures of illicit
money, having been convicted of influence peddling. The latest figure in the
spotlight is Roh Gun-pyeong, older brother of former President Roh Moo-hyun, who
five years ago was portrayed as a symbol of familial devotion, with his
unreserved support for his ambitious brother.
From early days of his brother's presidency, the farmer in the small town of
Jinyeong was a target of lobbyists and seekers of high positions and he could not
hold out against their temptations. The sensational suicide in 2004 of a former
Daewoo Construction Co. president who was being investigated for bribing Roh
Gun-pyeong revealed the president's brother to be the victim of an evil scheme in
Korea's corporate society, although he was given a suspended sentence.
Now he faces arrest for involvement in the national farm cooperative's takeover
of a securities firm in 2005. The president's brother made a phone call to the
head of the national cooperative, and soon afterwards, the state-run cooperative,
Nonghyup, decided to buy a majority share in the securities firm for about 200
billion won. The former Nonghyup head, former owner of the securities company and
a high-school classmate of the former president, are under arrest for bribery.
As president, Roh led a liberal government that emphatically struggled against
"social polarization," dispensing welfare measures for the poor and creating new
taxes for the rich. Now we realize that people who were around him have somehow
moved up to become rather affluent by Korean standards, running private
businesses and traveling in chauffeur-driven cars. Investigators indicate that
billions of won changed hands in the Nonghyup scandal, and everyone thinks that
this is just the tip of the iceberg.
People are imagining who will make headlines five years later.
(END)
legacy - the corruption of the presidential family. Sons, brothers, sisters and
in-laws of presidents have served time and faced huge forfeitures of illicit
money, having been convicted of influence peddling. The latest figure in the
spotlight is Roh Gun-pyeong, older brother of former President Roh Moo-hyun, who
five years ago was portrayed as a symbol of familial devotion, with his
unreserved support for his ambitious brother.
From early days of his brother's presidency, the farmer in the small town of
Jinyeong was a target of lobbyists and seekers of high positions and he could not
hold out against their temptations. The sensational suicide in 2004 of a former
Daewoo Construction Co. president who was being investigated for bribing Roh
Gun-pyeong revealed the president's brother to be the victim of an evil scheme in
Korea's corporate society, although he was given a suspended sentence.
Now he faces arrest for involvement in the national farm cooperative's takeover
of a securities firm in 2005. The president's brother made a phone call to the
head of the national cooperative, and soon afterwards, the state-run cooperative,
Nonghyup, decided to buy a majority share in the securities firm for about 200
billion won. The former Nonghyup head, former owner of the securities company and
a high-school classmate of the former president, are under arrest for bribery.
As president, Roh led a liberal government that emphatically struggled against
"social polarization," dispensing welfare measures for the poor and creating new
taxes for the rich. Now we realize that people who were around him have somehow
moved up to become rather affluent by Korean standards, running private
businesses and traveling in chauffeur-driven cars. Investigators indicate that
billions of won changed hands in the Nonghyup scandal, and everyone thinks that
this is just the tip of the iceberg.
People are imagining who will make headlines five years later.
(END)
