Removing the traps of corruption by relatives

Seo Hyang-hee, the sister-in-law of the ruling Saenuri Party`s presidential nominee Park Geun-hye, was mired in controversy due to her position as legal adviser to the troubled Samhwa Savings Bank. Seo is again seen in a negative light because of having done the same work for the debt-ridden Korea Land and Housing Corp. since 2010. She might not want to be in the spotlight and might think it unfair. Of course, the first step is to confirm if Seo did something wrong at Samhwa and whether she received preferential treatment at the land and housing corporation. Yet the public is suspicious of Seo. This is what the people think and she must accept this fate. Seo should realize that things have changed around her and that she be careful about whatever she does.

Korean presidents have been tainted by corruption scandals involving their relatives or close aides. Even after Korea was democratized, such scandals put leaders under fire during and after their terms. Kim Young-sam`s second son was convicted of corruption, all three sons of Kim Dae-jung got in trouble with the law, and Roh Moo-hyun`s elder brother and wife were investigated for irregularities. People had hoped that President Lee Myung-bak would be different, but his wife’s cousins and his elder brother, a former vice parliamentary speaker and six-time lawmaker, were sent to prison. A corruption scandal involving a president’s relatives degrades a country’s image and seriously undermines the people’s trust in the chief executive and national administration.

Koreans yearn for a new head of state free from corruption involving his or her relatives. At the moment, Park Geun-hye and former IT guru Ahn Cheol-soo are the most likely presidential candidates. Park, however, could face problems over her brother and sister-in-law. Ahn and his wife, Kim Mi-kyung, were also exceptionally given tenure as professors at Seoul National University after both being hired by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. His wife graduated from Seoul National University`s School of Medicine and earned a law degree from Washington State University, but whether she would have gotten the professorships without her husband remains doubtful.

Immediately after being elected president in 1991, Kim Young-sam warned all of his relatives that he would send them to prison if they accept a single penny from others as a bribe. Kim Dae-jung pledged to enact a law banning a president’s relatives from performing an unjust activity. Roh created a team to monitoring a president’s relatives. All three approaches were in vain, however. To prevent the next president`s relatives from committing corruption, presidential candidates should monitor them and prepare in advance. The key is for candidates to remove all the traps of relatives’ corruption by themselves.