[Editorial] Sooner is Better for Prosecution’s Investigations into President Roh

In a press conference yesterday, President Roh Moo-hyun apologized for the illicit fundraising for presidential elections last year and proposed that politicians should cooperate with the prosecution’s inquiries and bring all the facts regarding the slush funds to light. If there is any truth to his statements, the president should take the lead and set an example to follow. He must quickly confess first. It was regrettable that he reiterated what merely appears to be a principled proposal to his colleagues while he remained silent about his inner circle’s involvement with the slush funds.

However, when he said, “the prosecution, if necessary, may visit me in the presidential residence for investigations,” President Roh might offer a possible solution. Although Article 84 of the country’s constitution codifies that the incumbent president must not face impeachment for criminal investigations, there is no reason to set a prosecutor’s questioning of the president at the presidential residence in a negative light.

The investigations must be conducted as soon as possible and must not be aimed at saving face for the president. This is because President Roh, the winner of the presidential election last year, should be treated fairly as Lee Hoi-chang, the loser, who was subjected to prosecution investigations. The investigations should therefore be wrapped up promptly.

Concerning his statement a few days earlier that he would retire from politics if his slush funds amount to more than 10 percent of what the Grand National Party has illicitly raised, he said that it was neither a verbal bombshell nor a do-or-die tactic, but that he wanted to stave off the controversy over the slush funds. Nevertheless, they were reckless remarks. President Roh said he would be responsible for the remarks. However, if the president’s word, which must be as good as a bond, is frivolous, it will fail the people’s trust and hurt the country’s sovereign credit ratings.

He said in April, “Repeated failures of the past governments make me nervous that this government may repeat the failure.” President Roh retracted the remarks and said, “I just made a big fuss.” On numerous occasions during the first 10 months since he took office, the president made remarks only to retract them. A president’s word must be complete in itself, and must not cause anyone misunderstanding or confusion. And he must act on his word. His emphasis on “politics of self-examination” must not end in mere talk.