President Roh’s Man Byeon Wielded Enormous Power

The falling star of the Roh administration Byeon Yang-gyun is arousing numerous rumors about his abusive misuse of power. His “unchecked” power began to wane when his extramarital affair with Shin Jeong-ah surfaced to public attention.

He had commanded the strong support and trust of Roh. According to reliable sources, his personal relationship with Shin had distorted his official duties, however. While heading the Ministry of Planning and Budget as well as serving as senior presidential aide, he frequently used his influence to help his mistress financially. There are rumors of inappropriate budget allocation.

Byeong constituted the core of Roh’s national economy team-

His official status as senior presidential aide was that of a minister. He had several secretaries under his supervision, and controlled economic and national affairs. Before moving over to Cheong Wa Dae, or South Korea’s “White House,” he headed the ministry in charge of Korea’s national budget planning and execution. That is why he was more powerful than his predecessors.

He rose fast under Roh. Under Kim Dae Jung, he was one of the directors of the ministry. In March 2003 when Roh took office, he was promoted to deputy minister. In January 2005 he won a minister’s position. He changed his title to senior presidential aide on national policies in July 2006.

A senior economy official insisting on anonymity confirmed, “Byeong differed from the other ministers. He occupied major senior posts in the government. He knew everything and everyone. Everyone listened to him. No wonder he stood out.”

Even deputy prime ministers for finance and economy couldn’t do anything without the consent or endorsement of Byeong, indicating how powerful he was. He allegedly bought Shin’s art pieces to replace old ones hung on government buildings, and pressured a college into hiring his mistress Shin as professor without any degree or credentials.

Byeon also drove up the budget ministry’s status over the others. It was the budget ministry that took charge of Roh’s most important presidential initiative, “Vision 2030.” In addition, the ministry commanded top priority in budget allocation and personnel assignment. Due to these reasons, Roh administration budget ministry officials got promoted to major government posts.

Serving Roh as presidential aide, he called the shots in the promotion of economy officials and officers of state-run companies. For the past years, his close friends and lieutenants got promoted or appointed to powerful positions. A number of senior government officials explain, “Roh trusted Byeong, and Byeong held powerful positions. No doubt he could influence promotions and job assignments.”

His success stemmed from his blind loyalty to Roh and combative hostility to those who criticized Roh. For example, Byeong severely criticized S. R. Cho, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries last July. Cho stressed the importance of selecting someone with expertise in economy as the next president, which translated as endorsement for Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak.

cha@donga.com