Surveillance scandal deals Lee
election blow By Steven
Borowiec
SEOUL - It wouldn't be an
election in South Korea if there wasn't a scandal
to go with it. South Korean voters will go to the
polls for a general election on April 11, shortly
after the announcement of evidence of an extensive
system of illegal civilian monitoring maintained
by the national government.
In this
nation's fickle electoral contests, results can be
affected by late developments.
Reporters
from the Korean Broadcasting System's (KBS's)
labor union say they have received 2,619 documents
totaling more than 20,000 pages that detail
illegal spying by the Office of the Prime
Minister. It is alleged that
public resources were used to spy on as many as
2,600 figures from government, media, labor and
other areas. The monitoring was apparently
directed by the public ethics division of the
office, a body meant to monitor the conduct of
government officials. The KBS reporters haven't
made the documents publicly available.
Though the alleged monitoring appears to
have been directed by the Office of the Prime
Minister, the Blue House (presidential office) may
have also been involved. If it turns out that
President Lee Myung-bak was involved or complicit,
there could be serious consequences for him. Some
are calling for Lee's resignation.
The
scandal surfaced when Jang Jin-su, a former
officer in the prime minister's public ethics
office, gave a USB memory stick containing
documentation of monitoring to striking workers at
the KBS. Workers at the channel are calling for
the resignation of president Kim In-gyu, who they
say was put in his position by President Lee. KBS
reporters contend that since Kim took over, they
have been prevented from broadcasting material
critical of the government.
After Jang
leaked the documents, he was reportedly then given
a bribe to keep quiet from that point on.
So far, the ruling party's only reaction
has been to call for an investigation, a prime
target of which is who gave Jang 100 million won
(about US$88,000) to buy his silence. They have
called for the appointment of a special counsel to
investigate the monitoring, which opposition
parties dismissed, arguing that the establishment
of such a body was a tactic to delay the
investigation until after the elections.
The allegations have led to partisan
squabbling typical of South Korean politics. The
ruling party is saying that it isn't the only, or
even the primary, suspect in illegally spying on
civilians. Blue House spokesperson Choi Keum-nak
stated on April 1 that 80% of the surveillance
took place under the Roh Moo-hyun administration
that ruled from 2003-2008. Chief of staff under
Roh and possible Democratic United Party (DUP)
presidential candidate, Moon Jae-in, called the
claims "nonsense".
A photo appeared in the
Seoul Shinmun newspaper on Friday of a DUP
representative holding leaked documents that dated
back to September 21, 2007, which indicated that
some of the infractions took place under the Roh
government. South Korea's presidency was
transferred from Roh to Lee Myung-bak in February
2008.
The revelation comes just as
campaigning for the April 11 general election is
getting underway. Yet more rumbling of abuses of
power by the ruling party could seriously damage
the chances of the Saenuri Party, also known as
the New Frontier Party (NFP), in the April 11
general elections, which the NFP were expected to
struggle in anyway. (Until February, Saenuri was
known as the Grand National Party.)
In a
March 31 poll by the Korea Society Opinion
Institute, 38.3% of voters said they planned to
vote for the NFP. That figure likely wouldn't
translate into enough seats for a parliamentary
majority and could fall as details of the illegal
surveillance scandal trickle out. Many of the
first media reports on the scandal referred to it
as "shocking" or "stunning". However, anyone who
has followed the Lee administration throughout its
tenure, and South Korean politics generally,
probably wasn't so surprised.
This is the
latest example of misconduct by the Lee
administration, which has been plagued by
corruption and illegal appointment scandals
throughout its time in office. While the scale of
this scandal appears unique, it is in line with
patterns of behavior by this administration and
many that came before it.
Lee's 2007
election victory came amid alleged involvement in
a scam by an investment house called BBK. This
year has seen a slew of corruption cases involving
close associates. Last year, he canceled plans to
buy an upscale retirement residence in Seoul after
he was alleged to be improperly using public
funds.
And it isn't just him. The
government's National Intelligence Service
admitted in 2005 to carrying out illegal
wiretapping as recently as three years before
that. Since the democracy movement of 1987 forced
off the formal yoke of dictatorship, South Korea
has struggled to fight off shifts towards
anti-democratic practices. South Korea's democracy
is the result of a prolonged battle against
authoritarian instincts. It is still imperfect.
The finger-pointing by political parties
is likely to continue. In a year with two
elections and bitter partisan rivalry between
liberal and conservative sides that are fairly
evenly matched, the time is ripe for bickering.
Steven Borowiec is a South
Korea-based writer.
(Copyright 2012
Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact us about sales,
syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
