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Lee Myung-bak

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Lee Myung Bak
이명박
李明博
Lee Myung-bak at an interview in 2005 at the Cheonggyechon stream restoration site
President of South Korea
Assumed office
25 February 2008
Prime MinisterHan Duck-soo
Han Seung-soo
Preceded byRoh Moo-hyun
Personal details
Born (1941-12-19) 19 December 1941 (age 82)
Hirano, Osaka, Japan
Political partyGNP
SpouseKim Yun-ok
Lee Myung-bak
Hangul
이명박
Hanja
Revised RomanizationI Myeongbak
McCune–ReischauerI Myŏngbak

Lee Myung-bak (IPA: [i.mʲʌŋ.bak̚]) (born December 19, 1941) is the tenth and current President of South Korea (currently serving the seventeenth presidential term since the establishment of the role). He previously served as the thirty-second mayor of Seoul and is a current member of the Grand National Party.

Early life and education

Lee was born in the then-Korean residential district of Hirano-ku, Osaka, Japan although his autobiography states that he was born in Pohang, Korea. Lee's Japanese name is Akihiro Tsukiyama (月山明博, Tsukiyama Akihiro) by birth certificate.[1] At the time his father, Cheung-u Lee (이층우), worked as a farm hand on a cattle ranch in Japan. His mother, Taewon Chae (채태원) was a housewife and a devout Christian. Lee has three brothers and three sisters. He is the fifth of seven children. After the end of World War II in 1945, his family returned to Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. [2] [3]

At Pohang, Lee attended Dongji Commercial High School. A year after graduating from high school, Lee gained admission to Korea University. During his third year in college in 1964, Lee ran for the chairman of student council and was elected. In his autobiography "There Is No Myth," Lee recollects working odd jobs to put himself through college. That year, Lee participated in student demonstrations against President Park Chung-hee's Seoul-Tokyo Talks. He was charged with plotting insurrection and was sentenced for five years' probation and three years' imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Korea. He served a little under three months of his term at the Seodaemun prison (서대문형무소)in Seoul. [4]

Lee is married to Kim Yun-ok (b. 1947) and has three daughters and one son. Lee is also a declared Christian and an elder at Somang Presbyterian Church in Seoul.

Business career

It was during his three decades with the Hyundai Group that Lee earned the nickname "Bulldozer". In one instance, he completely took apart a bulldozer to study its mechanism and figure out why it kept breaking down. When he started at Hyundai in 1965, it had 90 employees; when he left as chairman after 27 years, it had more than 160,000.[5]

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. [citation needed]

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 Kuan Yew, Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen[6] , former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. [citation needed]

After leaving Hyundai, at the end of a 27 year career, he decided to enter politics.

Early political career

In 1992 Lee made a transition from business to politics. Lee was elected as a member of the 14th Korean National assembly. During his campaign he stated he ran because "After watching Mikhail Gorbachev change the world climate I wanted to see if there was anything I could do." [7] After he became a second-term lawmaker in 1996 in Seoul, it was disclosed that he had spent excessively in his election campaign. He resigned in 1998 after being fined 7 million won for breaking the Election Law.[8]

In 2002, Lee ran for mayor of Seoul and won the election. However, he was fined for beginning election activities too early.[citation needed] Lee escaped the two-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors. During his tenure as mayor, he was noted for the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon, a popular stream in Seoul.

Mayor of Seoul

The rapid development that remade the nation and lifted millions out of poverty in the 1960s and 1970s had a lasting effect on South Korea. Seoul, while having been transformed from a semi-feudal city to one with modern infrastructure, had also seen its urbanism suffer in the process. Lee said he tried to achieve a balance between function and the environment.[9]

He told the city's people that he would remove the 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.

Presidential Election

Main article: South Korean presidential election, 2007

On May 10, 2007, Lee officially declared his intention to run for the Grand National Party as its presidential candidate. On August 20 2007, 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 illegal speculation on land owned in Dogok, an expensive district in Seoul.[10] In Dec 2007, a few days before the Presidential election, Lee announced that he would donate all of his assets to society. [11]

His stated goals were expressed in the "747 plan" and included: 7% annual growth in GDP, $40,000 USD per capita, and making Korea the world's seventh largest economy. An important part of his platform was the Pan Korea Grand Waterway (한반도 대운하) project from Busan to Seoul, which he believes will lead to an economic revival. His rivals criticize that the project is unrealistic and too costly to be realized. Others are concerned of possible ill effects that such projects would have on the environment.

Signaling a departure from his previous views on North Korea, Lee announced a plan to "engage" North Korea through investment. Lee promised to form a consultative body with the North to discuss furthering economic ties. The body would have subcommittees on the economy, education, finance, infrastructure and welfare, and a cooperation fund of $40 billion. He promised to 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.[12]

His foreign policy initiative was called MB Doctrine,[13] which advocates "engaging" North Korea and strengthening the US-Korean alliance.

The BBK Scandal and Kim Kyung-joon

In 1999 Lee 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.

During the 2007 Election, questions about his relationship with a company called BBK were raised. Supposed BBK founder Kim Kyung-joon is being investigated for large-scale embezzlement and stock price-fixing schemes. Kim Kyung-joon had initially stated that Lee was not involved with the company, and Lee himself denied being associated with BBK, claiming that he had never held even a single share in it. However, Kim later suggested that Lee had in fact directed BBK activities.

Kim Hong-il of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office cleared Lee of any wrongdoing, but three days before the election a video of a speech Lee gave to students at Kwangwoon University in October 2000 surfaced, in which Lee "bragged" that he had founded BBK.[14] Two days before the election, the National Assembly appointed a special prosecutor to investigate.[15]

Special Investigator Chung Ho-young declared Lee innocent of accusations related to fraud and the BBK. Critics suggested that investigators may have felt too intimidated to delve too deeply into the case, as they interviewed Lee in a restaurant in Seoul that was once a geisha house.[16]

Presidency

Lee shakes hands with United States President George W. Bush upon his arrival at Camp David, Maryland, United States, April 18, 2008

Lee won the presidential election in December 2007 with 48.7% of the vote.[17] However, voter turnout was one of the lowest ever for a presidential election in South Korea.[18] He took the oath of office February 25 2008, vowing to revitalize the economy, strengthen relations with the United States and "deal with" North Korea.[19] Specifically, Lee declared that he would pursue a campaign of “global diplomacy” and seek further cooperative exchanges with regional neighbors Japan, China, and Russia. Furthermore, he pledged to strengthen South Korea-United States relations and also implement a tougher policy with regards to North Korea, ideas that are promoted as the MB Doctrine. Lee stated that he wanted to restore better relations with the United States through a greater emphasis on free market solutions.[20] [21]

In mid-April 2008, Lee traveled to the United States for his first official overseas visit to meet with US President George W. Bush at the White House and Camp David. Lee’s more aggressive approach towards North Korea was described as a welcome change for Bush,[citation needed] who was often at odds with Roh Moo-hyun.[citation needed] During a press conference, the two leaders expressed hope that North Korea would disclose the details of their nuclear weapons program, and pledged their commitment to resolve the issue through the multilateral Six-party talks. [22] Lee also gave assurances that both the U.S. and South Korea would use dialogue to end the crisis.

Two months after his inauguration, Lee's approval ratings stood at 28%,[23] and by June 2008 they had reached 17%.[24] Bush and Lee also discussed the ratification of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement or KORUS FTA, which faces opposition from legislators in both countries. While it was expected that Lee’s agreement during the summit to partially lift the ban on U.S. beef imports would remove the obstacles in approving the KORUS FTA in the U.S., [25] Koreans now express extreme hostility towards allowing U.S. beef imports to resume.[26]

A longtime opponent of the Sunshine Policy carried out by his predecessors Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, Lee shifted towards a more aggressive policy on North Korea, promising to provide massive economic assistance but only after North Korea abandoned its suspected nuclear weapons programs. The North Korean government viewed this as confrontational and responded by calling Lee a “traitor” and an “anti-North confrontation advocator”. The North Korean response included the expulsion of South Korean officials from an inter-Korean industrial complex, the launching of naval missiles into the sea, and the deployment of MIGs and army units provocatively close to the DMZ. Domestically, Lee's critics claim his strategy will only serve to antagonize the Kim Jong-il regime and undermine progress towards friendly North Korea-South Korea relations[27]

Lee's promise to build the Grand Korean Waterway has stalled due to low public opinion.[28]

Criticism

Christianity

When Lee was mayor of Seoul, he declared the city "a holy place governed by God" and the citizens of Seoul "God's people." He went on the dedicate the city "to the Lord." In 2006, Lee also sent a video prayer message to a Christian rally where the worship leader called on God to "let the Buddhist temples in this country crumble down!" Lee reportedly received 80% of Korea's Christian votes.[29]

Canal

Main article: Grand Korean Waterway

Hong Jong-ho, an economist at Hanyang University, has claimed that the Grand Korean Waterway would create an “environmental disaster” that would worsen flooding and pollute the two rivers that supply drinking water for two-thirds of the country's population. He also said the waterway would be the most expensive construction project in South Korean history, costing as much as $50 billion. Buddhist groups have voiced fears that it would submerge nearby Buddhist relics,[30] which would cause irreparable damage to a significant portion of Korea's cultural legacy.[31]

Foreign policy

Lee is widely considered pro-U.S.[32] There are some critics in Korea who argue that inter-Korean relations have been rapidly deteriorating, mainly because the Lee Myung-bak government persisted on differentiating its North Korean policies from those of the former Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun governments, ignoring the agreements previously made at the North-South summit and pursued a hardline policy. [33]

However, Lee Myung-bak in fact has never explicitly refused to honor those previous agreements but rather has maintained that there are many other inter-Korean agreements as well which have not been honored and that both Koreas should have frank dialogue with each other to break the stalemate.

Cabinet Appointments

Lee Myung-bak has faced strong criticism over his choice of political appointees – many of whom are wealthy. The concern is that Lee’s appointees will favor policies that protect the rich while failing to address the needs of the underprivileged. Another criticism is that these appointees have been mostly chosen from the nation's southeast region (Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do), which is known as a GNP stronghold. [34] Lee has also had to face corruption charges leveled at his administration. Three appointees have already resigned amid suspicions of corruption. And Lee’s top intelligence chief and anticorruption aide face accusations that they received bribes from The Samsung Group. Both Samsung and Lee denied the charges. [35]

Education policy

Lee has proposed a number of changes to the country's education system, reportedly with the aim of making education more appealing to the upper class. [36] Teachers have been highly critical of these changes, arguing that Lee wants to turn education in the country into a "free market" while ignoring the underfunding of education in regions outside the Seoul area.[37]Prior to assuming the presidency, Lee’s transition team announced it would implement a nationwide English-immersion program in order to provide students with the language tools necessary to be successful in a highly globalized world. Under this program, all classes would have been taught in English by 2010. However, Lee abandoned the program after facing strong opposition from parents, teachers, and education specialists. [38]Currently he is trying to implement a program where all English courses in middle and secondary schools will be taught in English only. This will require the government to not only educate vast number of teachers in Korea but will also require the government to recruit university students studying abroad in English-speaking countries.

Political freedoms

Under the Lee Myung-bak administration, police are reportedly moving to restrict assemblies and demonstrations "depending on their purposes" as well as imposing fines on people who refuse "on-the-street demands" to present identification.[39] Lee has been called "authoritarian,"[40] "pro-big business and anti-labor." Lee vowed in 2007 to "get rid of" political and "hard-line" unions.[41]

US beef imports

Main article: US beef imports in South Korea

Lee received calls for resignation after detractors claimed he kowtowed to the US government over the importation of US beef, which had been tainted by mad cow disease in previous years.

Concerns over a possible threat to public health from US beef imports in South Korea in relation to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement caused popular opposition to the Lee administration to grow. The government's original agreement with the U.S. had limited beef imports to meat produced from cattle under three years of age because younger cattle are thought to be at lower risk of contracting mad cow disease (BSE). This limitation was similar to the agreement between Japan and the U.S.; shortly after Lee's visit to the U.S., the agreement was altered to remove limitations on cattle age. Many Koreans considered this a betrayal, and there was talk of attempting to impeach Lee. Lee later said that a deal had been reached that may allow Korea to ban U.S. beef if it is found to pose a threat to public health. Under the deal, in the event of a recognized outbreak of BSE, the U.S. government will conduct an investigation and inform Korea of the results. Korea can suspend imports, according to the agreement, "if the additional case(s) results in the World Organization for Animal Health recognizing an adverse change in the classification of the U.S. BSE status." The United States is currently recognized as a BSE-controlled country.[42]

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Lee Myung Bak overcomes poverty and challenges to demonstrate CEO style leadership. By Yongwhan Kim, Kyunghyang Times [2]
  3. ^ Special Report: Verifying Lee's Japanese birth. By Byeong-cheol Jeong [3]
  4. ^ Choice 2007 Lee Myung Bak By Yeong-nam Jeong [4]
  5. ^ New South Korean president — the right man at the right time By Blaine Harden, The Washington Post [5]
  6. ^ Cambodia could mediate-Xinhua[6]
  7. ^ Lee Myung Bak overcomes poverty and challenges to demonstrate CEO style leadership. By Yongwhan Kim, Kyunghyang Times [7]
  8. ^ "Lee's ascent marked by persistence". The JoongAng Daily (English Edition). 2007-08-21. Retrieved 2008-01-11. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  9. ^ Heroes of the environment: Lee Myung-bak. Time Asia, 9 May, 2007
  10. ^ Chosun Ilbo (16 August 2007). "Lee Myung-bak and the Prosecution". The Chosun Ilbo.
  11. ^ Lee Myung-bak announces he will donate ‘all of his assets’ to society. [8]
  12. ^ The Chosun Ilbo, Lee Myung-bak Unveils Inter-Korean Cooperation Plans
  13. ^ Jin, Dae-woong (21 December 2007). "Veteran diplomats, academics formulate the MB doctrine". The Korea Herald.
  14. ^ "BBK Video Clip Revives UNDP-GNP Tensions". Dong-A Ilbo (English Edition). 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  15. ^ "Special Counsel to Probe Lee Myung-bak". Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition). 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  16. ^ "New South Korean Leader Cleared in Fraud Inquiry". New York Times. 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  17. ^ Angus Reid page on South Korea.
  18. ^ "Lee wins South Korea's election". BBC News. 19 December 2007.
  19. ^ CNN (25 February 2008). "Lee becomes South Korean president". CNN. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ The Korea Times, President-Elect Vows Creative Diplomacy
  21. ^ President Lee Myung-bak's Inaugural Address
  22. ^ "Bush, Lee Hopeful of North Korea Nuclear Declaration". Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition). 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-04-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  23. ^ "Lee's decline in popularity". Hankyoreh. 9 May 2008.
  24. ^ "Lee's Approval Rating Plunges to 17%". KBS. 4 June 2008.
  25. ^ Riechmann, Deb (19 April 2008). "North Korea, trade top Bush talks with South Korean leader". Associated Press.
  26. ^ Chang, S (10 May 2008). "South Koreans protest U.S. beef as unsafe". MarketWatch.
  27. ^ "Rocket Man v Bulldozer". The Economist. 2008-4-03. Retrieved 2008-04-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  28. ^ "South Korean Plans for a Grand Canal: Savior or Folly?". International Herald Tribune. 2008-2-20. Retrieved 2008-03-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  29. ^ Lee, S. (1 Feb 2008). "A 'God-given' president-elect". Asia Times.
  30. ^ Sang-hun, Choe (12 Mar 2008). "Controversial Canal Tests South Korea's New Leader". New York Times.
  31. ^ Schurmann, P & Lee, A. (13 Mar 2008). "New Christian President Rattles Korea's Buddhist Nerves". New American Media.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ Wiseman, Paul (19 Dec 2007). "Conservative wins S. Korean presidency". USA Today.
  33. ^ Lee, S. (7 May 2008). "South Korea's Sunshine policy strikes back". Asia Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  34. ^ "Lee's party staggers over 'rich Cabinet' controversy". Yonhap. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2008-04-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  35. ^ "Corruption Allegations Batter South Korea's New President". The New York Times. 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2008-04-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  36. ^ Hankyoreh (10 Oct 2007). "Lee unveils controversial education policies". Hankyoreh. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  37. ^ KTU (15 Feb 2008). "President-elect Lee Myoung-bak's policy proposals threaten education". Korean Teachers & Education Workers' Union. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  38. ^ "Lee Myung-bak urges participation in English-language education initiatives". Hankyoreh. 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2008-04-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  39. ^ Korea Times (7 May 2008). "National security law". Korea Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  40. ^ "Lee administration reversing democratic achievements". Hankyoreh. 26 May 2008. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  41. ^ Kim Jong-cheol (28 Aug 2007). "What are Lee Myung-bak's true colors?". Hankyoreh. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  42. ^ Hwang, Jang-jin (08 May 2008). "Lee puts public health before beef". The Korea Herald. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Additional reading

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Political offices

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Preceded by Mayor of Seoul
2002– 2006 		Succeeded by
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