Koreagate

Koreagate was an American political scandal in 1976 involving South Korean political figures seeking influence from members of Congress. An immediate goal of the scandal seems to have been reversing President Richard Nixon's decision to withdraw troops. It involved the KCIA (now the National Intelligence Service) allegedly funneling bribes and favors through Korean businessman Tongsun Park in an attempt to gain favor and influence for South Korean objectives. Some 115 members of Congress were supposedly involved. Speculation also focused on the role of Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, former KCIA Director Kim Hyung Wook, and former South Korean Prime Minister Chung Il Kwon [Boettcher, Robert B. (1980). "Gifts of Deceit"] .

Parties involved

Tongsun Park and Richard Hanna were two of the main actors involved in the Koreagate scandal [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongsun_Park. Tongsun Park represented the Korean side of the secret agreement, while Richard Hanna was largely responsible for the American side of the deal. According to the agreement, both parties would share the commissions from American rice sales to South Korea and to use them to obtain favorable decisions for Seoul in the United States Congress [ Chae.J.Lee dynamics of adjustment Pg 95] . Hanna was also responsible for aiding Chung Il Kwon and Park in finding effective lobbying techniques, which he did by advising the pair to emulate Taiwanese and Israeli models that had succeeded in the past [Lee koreagate investigations Pg 95] . Park was also responsible for providing extra financial incentives to Hanna and other members of Congress, a task made easy by large rice sale commissions [ "Koreagate on Capitol Hill" Time, Pg 2] . Such financial incentives reportedly ranged from US$100,000 to $200,000 at a time per individual [ R.Boettcher "Gifts of Deceit"] .

Objectives

The reasons behind the scandal involved political, social, and financial notions. Korean leaders, including Tongsun Park and President Park were angered with Nixon's decision to withdraw soldiers from South Korea and felt it was urgent to build support for preserving the remaining United States military presence [ C.Lee political notions of scandal Pg 96] . The Park government was also concerned with the approval of a substantial package of assistance for South Korea's military modernization programs [ C.Lee financial notions of scandal Pg 96] . Another reason behind the scandal was to repress or counter increasing criticism of Park's illegitimate policies and human rights violations. [C.Lee Social Notions of Scandal Pg 96] According to many, the deceitfulness of Park's objectives would ultimately lead to his downfall [ "Koreagate on Capitol Hill" Time Pg 3] .

Consequences

The United States Department of State recognized the illegal aspects of Park's action in 1970 and informed the Korean embassy in Washington that such activities were problematic [ Lee "A Troubled Peace" reactions to actions Pg 97] . Former United States Ambassador to Seoul William Porter tried to persuade President Park and Chung Il Kwon that Tongsun Park should have to return to South Korea, but to no avail [Lee Porter's concern on ethics Pg 98] . Later, William Porter described the United States response as "greatly pessimistic" because the United States government did not want to denounce South Korea when it was assisting war efforts in Vietnam [ Purdum Government bias to withhold punishment Pg 2] . Following the replacement of William Porter by Philip Habib as ambassador to South Korea, punishment for Tongsun Park's unethical activities was increasingly pursued [ Unethical description of behavior Time Pg 3] . Habib attempted to force Park to register as a lobbyist for the South Korean government, but was unsuccessful. In response to his failure, Habib instructed all embassy personnel in South Korea to cut ties with Park and warned several visiting congressmen about his illegal operations, only to be crossed by former Attorney General William Saxby who warned Park of these actions and his potential prosecution [ Lee "A Troubled Peace" Pg 99] . Shortly after Porter and Habib's attempts to condemn Tongsun Park's actions, Habib accepted another job opportunity which forced him to work abroad for three years [ Lee Consequences on hold Pg 99] , which once again left Park's fate uncertain.

Diplomatic relations

After Koreagate was publicized, political relations between the United States and South Korea became shaky at best. Animosity between the United States and South Korea was further aggravated by mutual misperceptions and procedural disagreements [ Lee Dynamics of Structural Adjustment Pg 99] . The United States adopted a legalistic platform and expected South Korea to cooperate with any pending investigations [ Lee Koreagate Investigations Pg 99] . On the other hand, South Korean officials believed the story had been exaggerated, spun, or even concocted by American journalists Lee Diplomatic Sparring Pg 99] . Furthermore, South Korea interpreted American action as arising from an anti-Park conspiracy. Political experts on both sides also suspected that the scandal was being framed in this manner to aid Gerald Ford's election strategy. According to this interpretation, the Ford administration intended to neutralize the Democratic Party's exploitation of Watergate and Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon as issues by linking key Democratic congressmen to the Koreagate operations [ Lee Diplomatic Sparring Pg 100] .

Results

Despite persistent disagreement about extradition between the United States and South Korea, Tongsun Park ultimately came to the United States in April of 1978 to testify publicly in a House hearingDobbs on Koreagate Pg 1] . During the testimony, Park admitted to disbursing cash to thirty members of Congress. In the end, only ten members of Congress were seriously implicated, of whom most decided to resign, while the statute of limitations expired for three. Park was granted full immunity for his testimony. Congressional members Edward Roybal, Charles Wilson and John McFall were censured and reprimanded Dobbs Congressional Bad Boys Pg 1] ; Congressman Edward Patten was found not guilty, and Otto Passman was not prosecuted due to illness. Richard Hanna was convicted and sentenced to six to thirty months in prison. Though it was a political scandal at the time, Koreagate had surprisingly few and small long-term consequences.

Later activity of Tongsun Park

In 2005 Park was accused of acting as an intermediary with corrupt United Nations officials in the oil-for-food conspiracy orchestrated by Saddam Hussein. Park was represented by the renowned Patton-Boggs law firm, which may have presented some conflict of interest, as Tommy Boggs was a close friend of Park's at Georgetown University [ Dobbs Congressional Bad Boys Pg 2] .

References

Bibliography

*cite book | last = Boettcher | first = Robert B. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = "Gifts of Deceit" : "Sun Myung Moon," "Tongsun" "Park", "and the Korean Scandal" | publisher = Holt, Rinehart and Winston | date = 1980 | location = New York| isbn = 0030445760

* cite article | last = Dobbs | first = Michael | authorlink = | coauthor = | title = "The Washington Post : Koreagate Figure Tied To Oil-For-Food Scandal" | date = April 15, 2005 |location = Washington D.C |

*cite book | last = Jin-Lee | first = Chae. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = "A Trouble Peace : U.S Policy And The Two Koreas" | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press | date = 2006 | location = Baltimore | isbn = 0-8018-8330-X

* cite article | last = Purdum | first = Todd S. | authorlink = | coauthors= | title = "The New York Times : Accusation Against Lobbyist Echo Charges in 70's Scandal" | publisher = The New York Times Company | date = April 15, 2005 | location = New York |

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* cite article | last = Writer | first = Staff | authorlink = | coauthor = | title = "Time Magazine : Koreagate on Capitol Hill?" | publisher = Time in Partnership with CNN | date = Monday, November. 29, 1976 | location = New York |