Criticism of Lee Myung-bak

Lee Myung-bak, the President of the Republic of Korea, has elicited a variety of public perceptions regarding his policies, personality, and performance as a head of state. He has a very conflicting reputation since he started career as a politician. This has contributed his mixed reputation. Lee Myung-bak is in many ways similar to the controversial former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.^[1] Both of them had proposed an extensive remodeling of the respective domestic lands, had encountered many political-level scandals, and failed to stop the rising inflation. He is well-known to be a vocal supporter of the United States. The older brother of Lee Myung-bak, Lee Sang-deuk, told Alexander Vershbow that Lee Myung-bak was "pro-U.S. and pro-Japan to the core" during a private discussion on the free trade-related issues in 2008.^[2] There has been a significant process of political lameduck on September 2011 under Lee Myung-bak's political stewardship. The gradual lameduck has been suddenly magnified through a series of arrests of Lee's closest associates in the government.^[3][4] These events had brought a change of fate within the Blue House and the Grand National Party. His earlier persidential campaign promises for "an administration without any scandal" and "a government that can overcome economic crises" have been suddenly continued to fail around the time of his September 20-24th 2011 trip for his speech in the United Nations Headquarter.^[5] The public's mistrust against Lee's governance has also negatively affected the Blue House. The Blue House circle of individuals has casted a negative outlook of his administration as the direct allegations against Lee have suddenly appeared in the mass media and as Lee has been initially silent on the controversies.^[6]

Legal professor Lee Sang-don (이상돈) of the Chung-Ang University had expressed concerns through his blog how Lee Myung-bak's political clique could potentially drag down his own administration and the Grand National Party after the next presidential election due to Lee's extensive history of political-level corruptions.^[7]

Negative Image

The "Rat" Nickname

See also: Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea#G20 Submit Poster Incident

He is often smeared as a "rat" by the South Korean liberals.^[8][9] This is contrasted from ex-president's Roh Mu-hyun's slanders. Lee's "rat" image later contributed to another online nickname, Jwibagi (쥐박이), a portmanteau of the Korean word for rat (쥐) and his name.^[10] The Hangul .com internet domain named after his Jwibagi nickname is ironically owned by the security division of the Blue House, the official residence of the President.^[11]

The "2MB" Nickname

President Lee Myung Bak has several nicknames and the most famous one is "2MB" which means his brain can only contain memory or data of 2 Megabytes.^[12] The nickname derives from the Korean language, in that both "Lee" and "two" are spelled the same way (이) according to the South Korean phonological convention. The MB in the name comes from "Myung Bak."

Economic Failure

• The failure of Korea National Oil Corporation's plan to inspect oil reserves in the Iraqi Kurdistan, in which it was personally led by Lee Myung-bak, was met with criticism from a fellow GNP member, Lee Hak-jae (이학재), on September 16, 2011.^[13]

Ignoring the Pledges

His pledges during his elections stirred disputes after he commenced his duty as a president. There has been concerns that his national-level plans are "lameducked" except for the river project right before the mid-election starting in early 2011.^[14] This largely contributed the citizens' mistrust on his policies.^[15]

Voters in the age range of 40s who voted for Lee in the 2007 presidential election had voted against the Grand National Party in the October 2011 by-election based usually upon the Lee's failures of implementing policies for working class citizens.^[16]

Mortgage Issues

There are concerns that he ignored his own campaign promise to stabilize the mortgage issues.^[17]

University Tuition Policy

During his presidential campaign, he promised to halve the university tuition to all universities. However, during his presidency, the government did not promise this and replaced with introducing a policy of deferring tuition payment. This led to series of student demonstrations such as "hair-cutting protests" and series of criticisms in the media and the internet by university students.^[18][19] This also brought criticisms from the opposition, the Democratic Party.^[20] Hwang Woo-yeo, floor leader of the GNP, urged President Lee to reform the tuition policy even though the Lee's in-party supporters in the Blue House were uncertain about this policy.^[21]

Fraudulent Campaign Controversy

The 2007 presidential election was met with many protests, possibilities of his corruptions during his career as the mayor of Seoul, and problems with his campaign platform.^[22]

Administration Issues

CEOs vs. Politicians

Considering issues surrounding the CEO and a presidential candidate, Herman Cain, there is a concern whether Lee Myung-bak, a former CEO, can successfully end his presidency as "the entire leadership model of a successful CEO is vastly different from that of a successful president".^[23] There has also been a backlash domestically. GNP chairperson Hong Jun-pyo concerns how "due to the fact that Lee is a former CEO, he runs the country like a business company" and "he is not good at politics".^[24]

UAE Military Dispatch

In return of retaining order of a nuclear power plant from UAE, Lee pledged to send military force to the UAE. It also met with criticism from the opposition party that claims the inefficient budget spending.^[25] A fellow member of National Assembly from the ruling Grand National Party Yoo Seung-min criticized that there might be concealed documents about dispatching soldiers, thus questioning the nature of the bilateral deal.^[26]

Telecommunication Mismanagement

The party leader of the Democratic Party, Kim Jin-pyo, criticized Lee's decision to dismantle the Ministry of Information and Communication for the on-going negligence of South Korea's telecommunication security.^[27] This has later eventually been criticized by another member, Son Hak-gyu, of concerning about Korea Communications Commission's mismanagement started by Lee Myung-bak.^[28] The Korea Communications Commission is a subordinate organization under Lee's personal leadership and control as the president.

Counterproductive Governance

One of the biggest critics of his political career in the Blue House is a GNP politician, Chung Doo-un. On February 5, 2011, He was critical against Lee by saying "It is natural to see how lameduck is President Lee's 4 years in office. We will agree whether who would be lameducked later this year."^[29] His editorial in Monthly Chosun (July 2011) about the July 4th party conference mentioned that Lee's later stage of his presidency is similar to ex-president Roh's later stage of presidency.^[30]

During the GNP supreme council on October 31st, 2011, after the fatal October 2011 by-election, fellow GNP politician, Won Hee-ryong had expressed discontent against Lee Myung-bak's self-praising and out of reality way of communication that does not help the public.^[31]

Against the Reformation Pressure

Lee rejected the demands and an official apology of 25 pro-reform members of the Grand National Party as Lee responded with "a silence" through the Twitter account of the NPR journalist, Louisa Lim.^[32][33]

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.^[34] Lee has been called "authoritarian,"^[35] "pro-big business and anti-labor." Lee vowed in 2007 to "get rid of" political and "hard-line" unions.^[36] Yoon Yeo-jun, a former GNP member, openly concerned how Lee Myung-bak ignores democratic protocols at a public seminar on September 2011.^[37]

Amnesty International highly criticized the human rights violation caused under Lee Myung-bak's administration. Amnesty International accused Lee Myung Bak of ordering South Korean police to use excessive force against peaceful protestors who were demonstrating against Lee's policies.^[38] In contrast to his use of excessive force against the protestors, in an interview with Time magazine, President Lee said, "I fully understand the protesters' point of view on the matter" and regarding the long-lasting demonstration, he added, "Protesting culture has a deep-root in democracy of Korea and despite the ongoing political upheaval of this country, the enthusiasm that the protesters showed is one side of the dynamism we embrace and this will eventually be a positive drive of Korea's development".^[39]

He was also criticized for not attending to the annual memorials for the Gwangju Democratization Movement during his presidency except in 2008.^[40]

Lee's government has also been criticized for maintaining surveillance illegally on civilians. ^[41]

Media freedoms

The International Federation of Journalists have condemned changes being made in the management of major broadcast media in South Korea which amount to political interference.^[42] The Lee government has been accused of trying to manipulate media to suit its political tastes by appointing executives to state-run broadcasting and some key public enterprises who are his supporters.

The Lee government has also been accused of appointing his close associates to presidencies of SKY LIFE satellite broadcasting and 24 hours news channel YTN, both of which supported his presidential campaign. The chief executives of Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corporation and the English broadcasting company, Arirang TV have been replaced by government supporters.

It has also been suggested that Lee is trying to change the top executive, Chung Yeon-ju of Korean Broadcasting System, the country's most powerful television network. The prosecution’s plan to summon Chung was made after the Korea Communications Commission Chairman Choi Si-jung, known to be President Lee Myung-bak’s “mentor,” called for Chung to resign. The summons stirred up controversy over “investigation for political purposes” combined with pressure from all directions by the Board of Audit and Inspection and the NTS.^[43] Chung Yeon-ju was fired after the inspection carried out by Audit and Inspection Board controlled by Lee's government. The reliability of the KBS broadcasting has been doubted, after the new CEO, Lee Byungsoon, was appointed. In addition, the fact that the new CEO of YTN and KOBACO helped his presidential campaign was for their own career background as a professional broadcaster and they were all appointed through legal procedures.^[44][45] In addition the Lee government has been under suspicion of trying to control television programmes that are critical of the government according to local journalists.

2008 Beef protests

See also: 2008 US beef protest in South Korea

The Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation was under court investigation over a program dealing with a beef trade deal with the United States which the IFJ local affiliate, the Journalists' Association of Korea (JAK) says is against press freedom and is in breach of the promise protecting Journalists. The program, known as 'PD Diary', was accused to deliberately distort 19 conspicuous parts of the program, including several deliberate mistranslations, which the Lee administration saw as being at least partially responsible for sparking the U.S. beef protests.^[46][47][48] The translator, Ji-Min Jung, disclosed that the producers of the program had intentionally distorted the original translation and the prosecutor's investigation result confirmed on July 31 that a false representation was made. The Lee administration claimed that the MBC program, known as 'PD Diary', deliberately distorted some parts of the program.^[49][50]

According to Wikileaks documents, top officials of Lee's administration already agreed with then American ambassador, Alexander Vershbow, on January 17, 2008 to open up Korea's beef market, few months before Lee's trip to the USA on April 2008.^[51]

Treatment of journalists

Norma Kang Muico, Amnesty International’s Korea researcher, said (in 2009), “We are extremely concerned that the human rights situation in South Korea has deteriorated since last year.” As an example, she mentioned the prosecution’s indictment of five people who were involved in the production of an MBC program about mad cow disease that aired in 2008. She concluded, “The freedom of the press in Korea is now facing a challenge."^[52] According to Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), the ranking of Press Freedom is constantly falling. In 2005, while formal president Roh Moo Hyun governs Korea, Korea was recorded as 34th of Press Freedom Ranking. In 2006, 31 th, and In 2007, 39th. After Inaugration of President Lee Myung Bak, press freedom is ranked as 47th (2008), and ranked as 69th (2009).

Chojoongdong Connection

The conservative Chojoongdong media cartel had closely affiliated with Lee's influence in politics right before and around the beginning of his presidency as partners.^[53][54] It managed to co-prosper during the halfway of Lee's administration's support and favoritism.^[55] For what it matters, Lee's political leadership is business-friendly to the media sector of business as he and the GNP supported Chojoongdong-oriented comprehensive programming plan through another of Lee's closely affiliated institution, the Korea Communications Commission.

Manufacturing Favorable Internet Comments

South Korean blogger Impeter (아이엠피터) was the first person to comment about a possible background of large number of consistent positive comments in articles about Lee Myung-bak.^[56] Impeter later found out that a government-funded conservative non-profit organization was behind this online activities with the help of internet-savvy but politically uninterested youths who need volunteering hours. New Progress Party politician, Cho Seung-su (조승수), mentioned this organization's use of taxpayers' money as a legally prosecutable practice that violated the Laws Concerning Non-Profit Organizations (비영리 민간단체지원법), Article #6.^[57]

May 2011 Twitter Incident

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) authorities blocked a Twitter account of a South Korean citizen on May 12, 2011 due to a continuous insulting remarks against President Lee.^[58] This has contributed a negative image of the KCC as a presidential watchdog. On August 5, 2011, the Seoul Executive Court made a plea to the KCC to unblock the Twitter account based on the ground of freedom of expression.^[59]

Religion

There are concerns about Lee's religious beliefs presenting a threat to Buddhism in Korea. 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 to 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!" ^[60][61] Lee reportedly received 80% of Korea's Christian votes.^[62]

In August 2008, Buddhist monks protested against Lee's pro-Christian politics.^[63] Lee Myung-bak and his government have been accused by many Buddhist groups, including the influential Jogye order, of discriminating against and promoting hostility toward Buddhism.^[64] According to Buddhists, Christian persecution of Buddhism has intensified in South Korea in recent years. Christians have maltreated and humiliated Buddhist laity and monks, burned down temples, and vandalized Sutras and devotional items.^{[65][66][67][68]} A former pastor and former presidential public relations secretary, Chu Bu-gil (추부길) reflected hostility toward Buddhism in comparing the protesters against religious discrimination to “Satan’s minions” during an open prayer meeting in 2008.^[69] The Buddhist community accepted (Sept 9) President Lee's expression of deep regret over his government's alleged discrimination against Buddhists and bias in favor of Christians. The committee of leaders from all Buddhist sectors said that they had considered Lee's apology sincere and taking into consideration the increasing social conflict and economic hardship, they decided to take President Lee's remarks positively. The discomfort among the Buddhists has gradually appeased since then.^[70][71]

The government's decision to reduce the fundings for the Temple Stay programs across South Korean Buddhist temples and the burning of the Main Gate of Beomeosa on December 15, 2010 generated mistrust from Buddhist establishments.^[72]

Year 2011

Lee and the first lady attended a national-level Christian prayers' gathering in COEX Convention & Exhibition Center on March 3, 2011 under a political pretext. He had performed a religious gesture intended to express a political tone in which the both ruling and opposition parties later criticized his actions for underminding the separation of church and state.^[73] Kyunghyang Shinmun Political-International section editor, Kim Bong-seon criticized Lee's actions by recommending Lee "to choose only one position between an elder position of a Christian church and a presidential position of South Korea".^[74] A Hankook Ilbo news article on the internet sparked around 1800 replies through Daum and 1000 comments through Nate about this controversy that questions the vast political influence of Christianity in Korea.^[75] For administrative purposes, secularism is indeed supported within the South Korean public. This incident had also sparked negative reactions from non-Christian organizations. The Korean Buddhist Youth Association (대한불교청년회) protested against Lee's actions as a president and recommended "to manage his own self-dignity".^[76] This further brought more negative image of Lee among Buddhists. Minister In Myeong-jin of the Galili Church in Guro-gu, Seoul criticized Lee and made a note that "the next president should never be a Protestant Christian".^[77]

Environmental Destruction

Canal

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,^[78] which would cause irreparable damage to a significant portion of Korea's cultural legacy.^[79]

Gavan McCormack of Australian National University criticized Lee's canal project as a failure in relation to former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka's discredited political-economic approach called construction state (土建国家, Doken Kokka^?).^[80]

Jeju-do Military Base

American journalist, Gloria Steinem criticized President Lee for preserving Jeju-do's natural green zones while destroying a portion of it by constructing a naval military base.^[81][82]

Stance on North Korea

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 ultimate goal of the administration regarding inter-Korean relation is based on the "non-nuclear, openness, 3000" plan that entails reciprocity and mutual benefit between the two Koreas in order to achieve economic advancement and bring about happiness among the people living in the Korean peninsula. The current inter-Korean situation is undergoing a massive transitional period. The administration, however, made it clear that it will pursue a more productive policy that eventually would contribute to the peaceful reunification, but only after North Korea gives up its nuclear ambitions and adopt a more open-minded approach. 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.^[83] He announced that Jusapa (pro-North Korean people of South Korean origin) university students are behind the anti-governmental protests during a meeting with members of Buddhist organizations on June 2008.^[84] The Blue House officials, however, denied the existence of his remarks.^[85]

Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute, a think tank that often advises the government, argues 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 by the North-South summit and pursued a hardline policy.^[86]

However, in an interview with Yahoo!, Lee claims 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. Lee supports the reunification of Korea, although he believes that political differences between the two Koreas create an enormous obstacle to reunification.

On March 26, 2010 an explosion destroyed the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 crewmen. An investigation into the sinking concluded that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine was responsible for the sinking. Lee took a hard line towards the north after the results of the investigation were announced, immediately freezing all trade between the north and the south and resuming radio broadcasts into North Korea. He also has asked that the United Nations implement sanctions against North Korea.

Lee Myung-bak was criticized for requesting to public relations department of the Ministry of National Defense on December 2010 to make an anti-North Korean video that stars actor, Lee Jun Ki.^[87] This video is catered towards Korean school-going adolescents for the new school year.

Dr. Seo Jae-jeong of Johns Hopkins University criticized Lee for being unrealistic in dealing with North Korea due to his Christian religious faith influencing South Korea's attitude towards North Korea.^[88]

The government's anti-North Korean attitude later influenced Ministry of National Defense's decision to hire some conservative military instructors who taught political stances unfavorable towards Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun to the army reservists.^[89]

The autobiography of the former president's Kim Dae-jung strongly criticizes Lee's policies towards North Korea before his death.^[90]

Lee had expressed a strong statement that "nothing would change as long as Kim Jong-il remained in power" in North Korea to Alexander Vershbow in 2006 according to recent Wikileaks leak.^[91]

Sending Money to North Korea

Despite Lee Myung-bak's skeptical stance towards North Korea, 765 million dollars was sent to North Korea as of June 2010 under his leadership.^[92] This amount of money is potentially in par with the previous North Korean-friendly governments under Kim Dae-jung and·Roh Moo-hyun.

Yongsan Incident

On January 20, 2009, Police force killed 6 people in Yongsan-gu.^[93] Lee Myung-bak tried to redevelop Yong San (While he was mayor of Seoul, this policy is decided by Lee Myung Bak). It is estimated that with evicting residents of Yongsan, Samsung could make profit about 30,000,000,000,000 won (about 2.7 billion dollars) However, Lee Myung Bak did NOT compensate for natives of Yong San (Althogh natives of Yong San had made loss about. 360,000,000 won (about 300,000 dollars, Lee compensate for them just 50,000,000 won (about 50,000 dollars). they tried to protect their property by demonstrating in Nam Il building (In Yong San). But Police force decided to Kill all of them^{[citation needed]}, and burn that building. and 6 people in Nam Il building were massacred. After that, Lee Myung Bak tried to avoid taking responsibility and conceal the truth of Yong San. More than that, He stated Kim Suk Ki who decided to kill demonstrator (the chairman of Seoul police office, The capital of Korea) as a chair man of Korea police office. The families of the civilian victims in this incident later protested against the Police Agency.^[94]

Kim Seok-gi (김석기) was the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency during the incident.^[95]

Fraudulent elections

In the 2010 local elections, some voters were given election ballots which already have been filled for Oh Se-hoon who is affiliated to the Grand National Party, the ruling party governed by Lee Myung-bak. Voters raised objections to that situation, but election officers replied "Just use that ballot and put that ballot in a ballot box". Articles about that accident have been deleted after a few articles were published in the few days after the election.^[96]

Counterproductive Human Resource Management

Lee Myung-bak has faced strong criticism over his choice of political appointees – many of whom are wealthy or have very close connection with him. 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 (Gyeongsang Province), which is reputably known as a GNP stronghold.^[97] 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.^[98]

Once an official gets notable recognition from Lee Myung-bak, he or she will get guaranteed protection and income stability under Lee Myung-bak's own political authority.^[99] Former president, Kim Young-sam had expressed remarks about Lee's poor ability of choosing personnels in the administration according to a Wikileaks document.^[100]

Political individuals who work closely under Lee's administration allegedly obtain housing benefits through sponsored reduced contracts (Korean:다운계약서) by underreporting certain real estate taxes.^[101]

The South Korean media circles use the term, parachuted personnels (낙하산 인사), for any well-connected pro-Lee individual in his administration.

The Spokesperson of the Blue House, Park Jeong-ha, said that the multiple exposures of corruption by Lee Myung-bak's closest associates started around in September 2011 was because of Lee's lack of ability to distinguish personal connections and professional relationships.^[102]

Cronyism

• There are approximately 300 people associated with Lee Myung-bak who take positions in governmental agencies and corporations as of February 2011.^[103]
• The Democratic Party criticized Lee Myung-bak for appointing Kim Sang-gi (김상기) as the new Chief of Staff member for the Republic of Korea Army on December 2010, a high school junior colleague of him.^[104] This is from Lee's preference to hire personnels from Gyeongsang-do as his foundation of his political influence.
• The government under Lee Myung-bak's leadership has appointed Korea University alumni as the majority of the high profile prosecutor officials.^[99] The chairperson of the Grand National Party is also a Korea University alumni and an experienced ex-prosecutor, Hong Jun-pyo.
• Many of the executives in private and public financial institutions (KB Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Woori Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group) have direct connections with Lee Myung-bak.^[105] His influence in the financial sector of South Korea later promoted Kim Choongsoo from the Presidential Aide of Economic Sector to the governor of Bank of Korea.
• Economist expert, Dr. Kim Sang-jo (김상조) of Hansung University, mentioned that Lee Myung-bak's worst decision in the administration is to promote Kim Choongsoo as the governor of Bank of Korea and let him neglect the stabilization of the interest rate of the Korean won.^[106]
• Kim Du-woo, a former associate of Lee Myung-bak during the 2007 presidential election, is the former senior secretary of public relations for Lee Myung-bak in 2011.^[107] He is a former Gyeongsangdo-born editor of Joongang-Ilbo and a native of Gyeongsang-do - 2 of Lee Myung-bak's personal and political preference. He resigned his top Blue House position on September 2011 due to his taking of bribes from a Busan Savings Bank lobbyist.^[108]
• Lee nominated Eo Cheong-soo, replacing Kim In-jong, as the chief of the Presidential Security Service on October 27th, 2011 (right after the October 2011 By-election) despite his negative reputation and controversial decisions during the 2008 protest as the then commissioner of National Police Agency.^[109]

Nepotism

• There has been negative responses in politics that Lee Myung-bak is favoring nepotism for his older brother, Lee Sang-deuk.
• An older cousin of Lee Myung-bak was under an investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors for extorting fundings for the Four Major Rivers Project.^[110]

Restricting Freedom of Speech

There has been incidents where the administration under Lee Myung-bak accused of restricting free speech. One of the biggest incidents was the South Korean government's oppression of Daum forum user, Minerva.

Being Involved in Illegal Business Deals

Dogok-Dong, Seoul Land Issues

Lee and his relatives managed pieces of land in southern Seoul through illegal conventions. This was brought up in court in in early 2008.^[111]

BBK Incident

Lee Myung Bak was said to be involved in a illegal company named BBK which has brought a chaos to South Korea during the election season. People criticized him and said "A person who ws involved in a huge illegal action like a non-law abiding company cannot be a president.". But his speech where he mentioned that he would make the economy of Korea better has brought him to the place as a president of South Korea.

Naegok-dong Post-Presidency Residence Issues

Lee's acquisition of vast land in Seocho-gu's Naegok-dong under his son's name had caused a problem. One of the candidate lands that he sought was a Green Belt area, which could cause any contradiction about his "eco-friendly" governance.^[112] This has spurred many controversies. For instance, a female lobbyist-like civilian with the family name of Yoo was involved in this Naegok-dong deal with Lee Myung-bak's family members; now currently moved to the USA to avoid a possible arrest.^[113]

Tax Evasion

The spokesperson of the Democratic Party, Lee Yong-seop (이용섭), mentioned about the tax evasions of the presidential family's current residence by declaring parts of the buildings as commercial purposes.^[114]

Inappropriate Remarks

• On July 12, 2011, Lee's remarks on the Ganghwa Island Shooting spurred an outrage due to his remark interpreted as inculpating against the marine soldiers for being mentally weak in a military lifestyle.^[115]
• On September 8, 2011, Lee's remark on Ahn Cheol-Soo's political involvement "a previous experience in administration is a requirement to become the mayor of Seoul" received a negative public impression due to the fact that Lee's had no previous experience in administration when he became the Mayor of Seoul in the 2002.^[116]
• On September 22, 2011, Lee visited a Korean-American conference in Seattle and said "it is a relief that I am the president of South Korea and have resolved two economic crises under my leadership".^[117] This was to express his Mbnomics as a base successful policy and as his position as a Economy President (Korean: 경제대통령). On the other hand, his fellow GNP policitan, Lee Han-gu, expressed concerns about the 36.7% increase of South Korea's public debt (881 trillion won) during the National Assembly-led administrative inspection on September 19.^[118]

See also

• Lee Myung-bak government

References

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2. ^ "US embassy cable - 08SEOUL1087 LEE SANG-DEUK ON BEEF, PRESIDENT LEE'S MISSTEPS" (in Korean & English). Wikileaks. http://www.wikileaks-kr.org/dokuwiki/08seoul1087. Retrieved 2011-10-05. "Vice Speaker Lee said that President Lee was pro-U.S. and pro-Japan to the core so there should be no questioning President Lee’s vision." 
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6. ^ Kim (김), Dong-guk (동국) (2011-09-26). "잇단 측근 비리 의혹에 MB "…"" (in Korean). Hankook Ilbo. http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/politics/201109/h2011092602375021080.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
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25. ^ Parties to lock horns over state budget, UAE troop dispatch
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93. ^ Yongsan Incident Remains Unresolved
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Additional Readings

• The Hankyoreh, Police pressuring Buddhists
• "Seoul mayor sued for traffic chaos", People's Daily, July 14, 2004

External links

• (Korean) '공정사회' 같은 소리하고 있네…, Korean editorial that is critical of Lee Myung-bak's impact to the society
• (Korean) '자기편'끼리 대화할 수밖에 없는 이명박의 비극, Korean editorial critical of Lee Myung-bak's self-isolated attitudes in politics (Ohmynews)
• (Korean) MB정부-종교계 잇단 악연, Korean editorial critical of Lee Myung-bak's negative relationships with Korean Buddhists and Catholics
• (Korean) [환경특집] 토건마피아에 발목 잡힌 현실정치, Korean editorial on Lee's role in promoting the construction business scene in politics
• (Korean) 말로는 서민, 속으론 재벌, Korean editorial ciritical of Lee Myung-bak's negligence of domestic economy