By Bernama
Seoul : South Korean President Lee Myung-bak expressed sorrow at the corruption allegations surrounding recent senior appointees of his government, describing them as “heartbreaking”, Yonhap news agency reported Thursday.
A former in-house lawyer of the Samsung Group alleged through Catholic priests Wednesday that Kim Sung-ho, nominated as new chief of the National Intelligence Service and Lee Jong-chan, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, used to regularly receive kickbacks from Samsung.
“It’s heartbreaking,” President Lee was quoted by his spokesperson Lee Dong-kwan as saying.
The spokesperson said that the ceaseless outbreak of groundless suspicions surrounding top-ranking officials is regrettable, stating the number of false criminal charges filed in South Korea is 20,000-fold higher than the corresponding figure for Japan.
The fresh allegations came after three figures — nominated to lead the unification, environment and gender equality ministries — were forced to withdraw last week because of allegations of real estate speculation and other irregularities.
Health Minister-designate Kim Soung-yee and senior presidential secretary for social policy, Park Mee-sok, have also been under pressure to quit because of suspicions of ethical lapses.
In addition, Choi Si-jung, chairman-designate of the Broadcasting and Communications Commission, who is known as one of the president’s most trusted political advisors, is drawing fire for his alleged involvement in real estate speculation and other irregularities.
Reflecting widespread public discontent over the confusion in the Cabinet formation and the ethical problems of some ministers, the inaugural approval rating for Lee turned out to be slightly below 50 percent, the lowest in the history of Korean politics, according to a poll released recently by a Seoul-published vernacular daily.
By contrast, Lee’s predecessors, Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung, posted inaugural approval ratings of 67 percent and 92.5 percent, respectively, the paper noted.
Officials at the ruling Grand National Party fear that the string of alleged corruption scandals involving Lee’s top aides and appointees may frustrate the party’s bid to secure a majority in the National Assembly in the general elections in April.
“Serious ethical lapses of ministers and minister candidates are blamed for the plunging approval ratings for the Lee government,” Kang Won-taek, a professor of Seoul’s Soongsil University, said at a political seminar here.
“In accordance with common sense established through the nation’s decades-long democratization, the previous governments barred people with records of real estate speculation, tax evasion and thesis plagiarism from top government posts. But the new government has attempted to deny established practices,” said Kang.
He also noted the Lee government is in difficulty because of its limited pool of human resources and lack of political philosophy in the selection of Cabinet ministers and other top government post holders.
Political scientist Seo Bok-kyung also said at the seminar that the Lee government has to introduce advanced personnel screening techniques from the U.S. and other Western countries.