Lee Myung-bak
 | This article is written like a story. (December 2007) |
Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 | |
|---|---|
| File:Ao1nafUF.jpg | |
| President of South Korea | |
| Assuming office 25 February 2008 | |
| Premier | Han Duck-soo |
| Succeeding | Roh Moo-hyun |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 December 1941 Hirano, Osaka, Japan |
| Political party | GNP |
| Spouse | Kim Yun-ok |
| Lee Myung-bak | |
| Hangul | 이명박 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | I Myeongbak |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yi Myŏng-bak |
Template:Korean name Lee Myung-bak (Korean: 이명박, Hanja: 李明博, born December 19, 1941 in Osaka, Japan) is the President-elect of South Korea and a former mayor of Seoul. He will succeed the incumbent Roh Moo-hyun as the president of South Korea on February 25, 2008. He is a member of the Grand National Party. As mayor of Seoul, he was known for his controversial policy initiatives, including the restoration of Cheonggyecheon. He is regarded as a conservative and has called for South Korea to take a harder line on North Korea and for a greater emphasis on free market solutions.
He defeated his rivals Chung Dong-Young and Lee Hoi-chang (who made a third presidential bid) with 50% of the vote and 26% and 13% respectively.
Biography
Early life and education
Lee was born in Hirano-ku, Osaka, Japan where his father worked at a cattle ranch. His family returned shortly after the liberation of Korea in 1945. He was the fifth child and grew up with three brothers and three sisters in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Lee spent his childhood helping his mother sell ice cream, wheat flour cakes, cloth, fruit, matches, and candy. His mother was an inspiration for his book Mother.
He took evening classes from Dongji Commercial High School. He then went to Seoul to receive his university education. During the day, he worked as a garbage collector and studied for his university entrance exam at night.He gained admission to Korea University where he majored in business administration.
Early political life
As a university student, Lee ran for the chairman of the student council and won the position, and also got involved in street politics. In 1964, he participated in a student demonstration against the normalization of Japan-Korea relations and was imprisoned for six months for his role. As was the case for many students who participated in such demonstrations, his record became an obstacle in his search for employment.
Economic background
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Lee wrote to then President Park Chung-hee criticizing the practice of disallowing student demonstrators entrance into mainstream society, a policy change that could directly affect his ability to gain employment. In 1965 he joined Hyundai Engineering and Construction.
It was during his employment here that he met his mentor and Hyundai founder Chung Ju-Yung. The company's size was 90 employees and was expanding its operations in the Middle East during Korea's economic boom of the 1960's and 1970's. Within 5 years, he became an executive and became president in 1977.
Lee's wealth was made during the real estate boom that occurred in South Korea during the 1970s through the 1990s. Through a series of real estate speculations Lee amassed over US$40 million.
He played a role in bringing about normalization of South Korea's relations with the USSR. Further, Lee also built relationships with foreign leaders, including former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kwan Yew, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1988, 23 years after starting with the company, he became the chairman of the company. At that time, the company had expanded to 160,000 employees worldwide.
After being forced to leave the company for which he has worked for 27 years, he decided to enter into politics.
Allegations of corruption and illegalities
In 1995, Lee failed to win the nomination for the Seoul mayor after a battle with former prime minister Chung Won-sok.
Due to the fallout, Lee left Korea and became a visiting professor to George Washington University in 1998. After returning in 1999, he set up several companies for electronic financial services. During this time, he met Kim Kyung-joon. Lee established the LKE Bank with Kim Kyung-joon but this enterprise went bankrupt less than a year later and 5,500 investors lost substantial amounts of money.
In 2002, he ran for the mayor of Seoul and was elected. However, he was fined for beginning electioneering activities too early. He escaped the two-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors. During his tenure, he was noted for the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon -- despite strong opposition, controversial changes to the public transportation (bus) system, and the revitalization of green spaces.
Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan City
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The rapid development that remade the nation and lifted millions like Lee out of poverty had a lasting effect on South Korea. Seoul which, while having been transformed from a semi-feudal city to one with modern infrastructure, had also seen its urbanism suffer in the process. Lee tried to achieve a balance between function and the environment, and he tried to put the environment first.[citation needed]
He told the city's people that he would tear out the jam-packed elevated highway that ran through the heart of Seoul and restore the buried Cheonggyecheon stream — an urban waterway that Lee himself had helped pave over in the 1960s. His opponents insisted that the plan would cause traffic chaos and cost billions. Three years later, Cheonggyecheon was reborn changing the face of Seoul. Lee also revamped the city's transportation system, adding clean rapid-transit buses. But his lasting accomplishment was in changing the Asian political dynamic, showing that environmentalism can go hand in hand with development.
Presidential bid
On May 10, 2007, Lee officially declared his intention to run for the Grand National Party as its presidential candidate. On Monday, August 20, he defeated Park Geun-hye in the GNP's primary to become its nominee for the 2007 Presidential election. During the primary, Lee was accused of profiting from real estate speculation from land that he owned in Dogok, a highly expensive district in Seoul.
A major policy of his platform is a canal project from Busan to Seoul, which he believes will lead to an economic revival. His stated goals are expressed in the 747 plan, which are: 7% annual growth in GDP, $40,000 USD per capita, and making Korea the world's seventh largest economy. His rivals criticize that the project is unrealistic and costly to be realized. Others are concerned of possible ill effects that such projects would have to the environment.
On September 6, 2007, the South Korean presidential office announced that it would file forthwith a libel case against Lee. Chief presidential secretary Moon Jae-In said that the case would be filed to preserve trust in the government.[1]
In August of 2007, Lee's character was once again questioned when he publicly stated to a meeting of South Korea's leading newspaper editors that as part of his "life's wisdom" he believed that "when you go to a massage girl, be sure to pick up an ugly one because too many men have used the pretty ones. And the ugly girl will be grateful to you and do her best to please you." Reporters noted that Lee has a record of sexist comments and a number of South Korean women's organizations considered him to be "anti-women."[2]
Signaling a departure from his previous views on North Korea, Lee announced a comprehensive plan for engaging North Korea involving investment as opposed to aid. Lee promised to form a consultative body with the North to discuss furthering economic ties. The body would have subcommittees on economy, education, finance, infrastructure and welfare and a cooperation fund of $40 billion. He would seek a Korean Economic Community agreement to establish the legal and systemic framework for any projects emerging from the negotiations. Lee also called for forming an aid office in North Korea as a way of decoupling humanitarian aid from nuclear talks.[3]
Personal life
Lee is married to Kim Yun-ok (b. 1947) and has three daughters and one son. Lee is also a declared Christian who is an elder at Somang Presbyterian Church in Seoul. He was also exempted from military service due to respiratory complications.
Quotes
From his 1995 autobiography "There Is No Such Thing As Miracle Business"
"People call me an architect of miracle business. From a third person's perspective, my success could be seen as a combination of a winning streak and a lucky break. My interpretation is a little different. The real business world is exposed to a variety of business threats... The source of my success in the business world is decisiveness and courage. I was able to turn challenges into business opportunities with personal traits."
Sources
- JoongAng Daily "Lee's ascent marked by persistence" http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2879518
- The Hankyoreh "Who is Lee Myung-bak?" http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/230316.html
- The Korea Times "Economy-First Trademark Gives Lee Myung-bak Edge" http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2007/08/180_8650.html
- Chosun Ilbo "TIME Names Lee Myung-bak 'Hero of Environment'" http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200710/200710170022.html
External links
- Official Website (in English)
- Official website (in Korean)
- Lee Myung Bak's Cyworld Minihomepage
- Meet the Presidential Hopefuls: Lee Myung-bak at The Korea Times.
- Interview with the Korea IT Times, September 2005.
- "Seoul mayor sued for traffic chaos", People's Daily, July 14, 2004.
- Interview with the Korea Times, July 1, 2004.
References
- ^ Channelnewsasia.com, South Korea presidency to sue opposition frontrunner
- ^ The Hankyoreh, [Editorial A presidential candidate that disrespects women]
- ^ The Chosun Ilbo, Lee Myung-bak Unveils Inter-Korean Cooperation Plans