|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lee Myung-bak |
 |
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. (September 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. |
|
Lee Myung-bak
이명박 李明博 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 25 February 2008 |
|
| Prime Minister | Han Duck-soo Han Seung-soo |
| Preceded by | Roh Moo-hyun |
|
|
|
| Born | 19 December 1941 Hirano, Osaka, Japan |
| Political party | GNP |
| Spouse | Kim Yun-ok |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Lee Myung-bak | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lee Myung-bak (pronounced /ˈliː ˈmjʊŋˌbæk/ or Korean i.mjʌŋ.bak̚) (born December 19, 1941) is the tenth and current President of South Korea (currently serving the seventeenth presidential term since the establishment of the role). He previously served as the thirty-second mayor of Seoul and is a current member of the Grand National Party.
Contents |
Although his autobiography states that he was born in Pohang, Korea, Lee was born in the then-Korean residential district of Nakakawachi-gun, Osaka Prefecture, Japan (now Hirano-ku, Osaka City). On his birth certificate Lee's Japanese name is Akihiro Tsukiyama (月山明博 Tsukiyama Akihiro?).[1] At the time his father, Cheung-u Lee (이층우), worked as a farm hand on a cattle ranch in Japan. His mother, Taewon Chae (채태원) was a housewife and a devout Christian. Lee has three brothers and three sisters. He is the fifth of seven children. After the end of World War II in 1945, his family returned to his father's hometown Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. [2] [3]
Tragedy, however, struck once again, this time in the form of the Korean War. On June 25, 1950, the North Koreans launched a surprise invasion of South Korea. Due to the war, Lee's father lost his livelihood, and the family had to move and made its home on the site of an abandoned temple. Mostly, his family lived in poverty. At school. Lee couldn't even dream of eating a proper lunch. Times were quite different from when the family lived in Japan, where his father could afford to send money home and even bring his cousins to Japan to study.[4]
Yet Lee learned the value of hard work early. By the time he'd left elementary school, he'd done every job possible. He sold matches. He sold rice rolls outside an army base. He even sold cakes until he was caught by military police. Even when he was in middle school, he kept working hard for living.[5]
In those tough times, secondary education was a privilege for only a selected few. In a big family like Lee's, Lee's elder brother was considered the hope of family. This often meant that siblings were expected to sacrifice their own education to support their brothers' or sisters' schooling, so Lee didn't expect to go to high school. Instead, he planned to help his mother sell bread in order to earn tuition money for his brother. However, His teacher proposed allowing Lee to attend Dongji Commercial High School in Pohang, with a full scholarship, which offered night classes that would allow him to work during the day and study at night.[6]
A year after graduating from high school, Lee gained admission to Korea University. During his third year in college in 1964, Lee ran for the chairman of student council and was elected. In his autobiography "There Is No Myth," Lee recollects working odd jobs to put himself through college. That year, Lee participated in student demonstrations against President Park Chung-hee's Seoul-Tokyo Talks. He was charged with plotting insurrection and was sentenced for five years' probation and three years' imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Korea. He served a little under three months of his term at the Seodaemun prison (서대문형무소)in Seoul. [7]
Lee is married to Kim Yun-ok (b. 1947) and has three daughters and one son. Lee is also a declared Christian and an elder at Somang Presbyterian Church in Seoul.
In 1965, Lee started to work at Hyundai (then little known mid-sized company called Hyundai Construction) which was awarded a contract to build the Pattani-Narathiwat Highway in Thailand. The US$5.2 million project was Korea's first-ever overseas construction project. Despite being a new employee, Lee was sent to Thailand to participate on the project. The project was successfully completed in March 1968, and Lee returned to Korea and was given charge of Hyundai's heavy machinery plant in Seoul.[8]
It was during his three decades with the Hyundai Group that Lee earned the nickname "Bulldozer". In one instance, he completely took apart a bulldozer to study its mechanism and figure out why it kept breaking down.
Lee became a company director at the age of 29 - just five years after he joined the company - and CEO at age 35, becoming Korea's youngest ever CEO. In 1988, he was named the chairman of Hyundai Construction at the age of 47.[9]
When he started at Hyundai in 1965, it had 90 employees; when he left as chairman after 27 years, it had more than 160,000.[10]
He played a role in bringing about normalization of South Korea's relations with the USSR. Further, Lee also built relationships with foreign leaders, including former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen[11], former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.citation needed
After leaving Hyundai, at the end of a 27 year career, he decided to enter politics.
In 1992 Lee made a transition from business to politics. Lee was elected as a member of the 14th Korean National assembly. During his campaign he stated he ran because "After watching Mikhail Gorbachev change the world climate I wanted to see if there was anything I could do." [2] After he became a second-term lawmaker in 1996 in Seoul, it was disclosed that he had spent excessively in his election campaign. He resigned in 1998 after being fined 7 million won for breaking the Election Law.[12]
In 2002, Lee ran for mayor of Seoul and won the election. However, he was fined for beginning election activities too early.citation needed Lee escaped the two-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors. During his tenure as mayor, he was noted for the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon, a popular stream in Seoul.
Lee's most visible contribution as Mayor of Seoul was to remove an elevated highway that ran through central Seoul and construct a multi-million dollar public recreation space, Cheonggyecheon. The site was a natural stream in pre-industrial times; Lee had been personally responsible for the construction of a highway over the stream, which caused environmental damage. Lee also revamped the city's transportation system, adding rapid transit buses.[13]
Another ambitious project was Seoul Forest. It was Seoul's answer to New York‘s Central Park or London's Hyde Park. Seoul Forest provides Seoul residents with a vast green space with 400,000 trees and 100 different animals, including deer and elk. The park opened in June 2005 after taking just one year to build.[14]
And the area in front of Seoul City Hall was nothing but a concrete traffic circle. The 2002 World Cup, however, showed how the area could also be used as a cultural space called Seoul Plaza. In May 2004, the tape was cut to open a newly built park in the area, a grassy field where Seoul residents could come to relax and take in cultural performances.[15]
On May 10, 2007, Lee officially declared his intention to run for the Grand National Party as its presidential candidate. On August 20, 2007, he defeated Park Geun-hye in the GNP's primary to become its nominee for the 2007 Presidential election. During the primary, Lee was accused of profiting from illegal speculation on land owned in Dogok, an expensive district in Seoul.[16] In Dec 2007, a few days before the Presidential election, Lee announced that he would donate all of his assets to society. [17]
His stated goals were expressed in the "747 Plan" and included: 7% annual growth in GDP, $40,000 USD per capita, and making Korea the world's seventh largest economy. An important part of his platform was the Grand Korean Waterway (한반도 대운하) project from Busan to Seoul, which he believes will lead to an economic revival. His rivals criticize that the project is unrealistic and too costly to be realized. Others are concerned of possible ill effects that such projects would have on the environment.
Signaling a departure from his previous views on North Korea, Lee announced a plan to "engage" North Korea through investment. Lee promised to form a consultative body with the North to discuss furthering economic ties. The body would have subcommittees on the economy, education, finance, infrastructure and welfare, and a cooperation fund of $40 billion. He promised to seek a Korean Economic Community agreement to establish the legal and systemic framework for any projects emerging from the negotiations. Lee also called for forming an aid office in North Korea as a way of decoupling humanitarian aid from nuclear talks.[18]
His foreign policy initiative was called MB Doctrine,[19] which advocates "engaging" North Korea and strengthening the US-Korean alliance.
During the 2007 Election, questions about his relationship with a company called BBK were raised. In 1999 Lee set up several companies for electronic financial services. During this time, he met Kim Kyung-joon. Lee established the LKE Bank with Kim Kyung-joon but this enterprise went bankrupt less than a year later and 5,500 investors lost substantial amounts of money. Supposed BBK co-founder Kim Kyung-joon was investigated for large-scale embezzlement and stock price-fixing schemes. Kim Kyung-joon had initially stated that Lee was not involved with the company, and Lee himself denied being associated with BBK, claiming that he had never held even a single share in it. However, Kim later suggested that Lee had in fact directed BBK activities.
Kim Hong-il of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office cleared Lee of any wrongdoing, but three days before the election a video of a speech Lee gave to students at Kwangwoon University in October 2000 surfaced, in which Lee "bragged" that he had founded BBK.[20] Two days before the election, the National Assembly appointed a special prosecutor to investigate.[21]
Special Investigator Chung Ho-young declared Lee innocent of accusations related to fraud and the BBK. Critics suggested that investigators may have felt too intimidated to delve too deeply into the case, as they interviewed Lee in a restaurant in Seoul that was once a geisha house.[22]
Eventually, prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence and a fine of W30 billion (US$1=W976) for former BBK owner Kim Kyung-joon on charges of stock manipulation and embezzlement. In the final hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court, the prosecutors said Kim, who founded and operated the boiler-room operation is suspected of crimes including embezzlement of W31.9 billion of investors' money, stock manipulation, and the forgery and execution of private documents but has shown no remorse nor repaid his debts. Earlier, Kim Ki-dong, a prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, said, "This is a case in which an individual person has made a mockery of the Republic of Korea."[23]
Lee won the presidential election in December 2007 with 48.7% of the vote.[24] However, voter turnout was one of the lowest ever for a presidential election in South Korea.[25] He took the oath of office February 25, 2008, vowing to revitalize the economy, strengthen relations with the United States and "deal with" North Korea.[26] Specifically, Lee declared that he would pursue a campaign of “global diplomacy” and seek further cooperative exchanges with regional neighbors Japan, China, and Russia. Furthermore, he pledged to strengthen South Korea-United States relations and also implement a tougher policy with regards to North Korea, ideas that are promoted as the MB Doctrine. Lee stated that he wanted to restore better relations with the United States through a greater emphasis on free market solutions.[27][28]
Two months after his inauguration, Lee's approval ratings stood at 28%,[29] and by June 2008 they had reached 17%.[30] Bush and Lee also discussed the ratification of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement or KORUS FTA, which faces opposition from legislators in both countries. While it was expected that Lee’s agreement during the summit to partially lift the ban on U.S. beef imports would remove the obstacles in approving the KORUS FTA in the U.S., [31] Koreans now express extreme hostility towards allowing U.S. beef imports to resume.[32]
The Korean government has issued a statement warning that violent protesters will be punished and measures will be taken stop clashes between police and protesters. And most Koreans want end to street protests against U.S. beef imports, a Gallup poll for the Chosun Ilbo suggests.[33]
Lee is starting to get his economic mojo back. The privatization plan is a modest but important step toward much-needed reform.[34]
Lee has proposed a number of changes to the country's education system, reportedly with the aim of making education more appealing to the upper class. [35] Teachers have been highly critical of these changes, arguing that Lee wants to turn education in the country into a "free market" while ignoring the underfunding of education in regions outside the Seoul area.[36]Prior to assuming the presidency, Lee’s transition team announced it would implement a nationwide English-immersion program in order to provide students with the language tools necessary to be successful in a highly globalized world. Under this program, all classes would have been taught in English by 2010. However, Lee abandoned the program after facing strong opposition from parents, teachers, and education specialists. [37]Currently he is trying to implement a program where all English courses in middle and secondary schools will be taught in English only. This will require the government to not only educate vast number of teachers in Korea but will also require the government to recruit university students studying abroad in English-speaking countries.
All schools in Gyeonggi Province will hold English-language classes in English only starting 2011, and every school in the province will have native speakers as teaching assistants by 2010. This project is aimed at teaching students to be comfortable speaking with English-speaking foreigners without taking extra classes at private institutions. As part of an employment test starting 2008, applicants have to demonstrate their ability to conduct a class only in the language. Some schools with native-speaking teaching assistants will start so-called English immersion classes from 2008.[38]
Mbnomics is the term applied to Lee's macroeconomic policy.[39] The term is derived by combining initials of Myung-bak (Mb) and the term economics (-nomics) to form "Mbnomics".
Kang Man-Soo, the Minister of Strategy and Finance, is credited with the creation and design of Mbnomics.[40]
The centerpiece of Lee's economic revitalization is his "Korea 7·4·7" plan. The plan takes its names from its goals - to bring 7% economic growth during his term, raise Korea's per capita income to US$40,000, and make Korea the world's seventh largest economy. As Lee puts it, his government is mandated with creating a new Korea where "the people are affluent, society is warm and the state strong." To do this, he plans to follow a pragmatic, market-friendly strategy: Smart Market Economy, Empirical Pragmatism, Democratic Activism.[41]
Nowadays Lee wanted to move to low-carbon growth in coming decades. The government hopes to be a bridge between rich and poor countries in fighting global warming by setting itself 2020 goals for greenhouse gas emissions.[42]
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,[43] which would cause irreparable damage to a significant portion of Korea's cultural legacy.[44] Lee's promise to build the Grand Korean Waterway has stalled due to low public opinion.[45]
But if successful, the plan - which would include dredging and other measures to improve Korea's waterways - will improve the condition of Korea's polluted rivers, bring tremendous economic benefits to local communities, create much needed jobs, boost tourism and slash transportation costs. Speaking in 2005 about the project, Lee said, "Many journalists questioned me why I keep commenting on the building of the canal. However, it's a simple fact that many cities around the world were benefited by making the best use of their rivers and seas."[46]
The inland waterway project has sparked interest not only in Korea, but overseas as well. Foreign investors, for instance, have expressed interest. According to a recent report, letters of interest have been received from Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Germany and the Netherlands.[47]
Lee Myung-bak has faced strong criticism over his choice of political appointees – many of whom are wealthy. 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 (Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do), which is known as a GNP stronghold. [48] 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. [49]
Lee on July 7th 2008 named Ahn Byong-man, a presidential advisor for state future planning, as his new minister of education, science and technology. Jang Tae-pyoung, a former secretary general of the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption, becomes minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and Grand National Party lawmaker Jeon Jae-hee minister of health, welfare and family affairs. In addition, Lee gave Prime Minister Han Seung-soo another chance in the belief that no proper working conditions have been provided for the Cabinet due to many pending issues since the inauguration of the new administration.[50]
Lee is widely considered pro-U.S.[51] In mid-April 2008, Lee traveled to the United States for his first official overseas visit to meet with US President George W. Bush at the White House and Camp David. Lee’s more aggressive approach towards North Korea was described as a welcome change for Bush,citation needed who was often at odds with Roh Moo-hyun.citation needed During a press conference, the two leaders expressed hope that North Korea would disclose the details of their nuclear weapons program, and pledged their commitment to resolve the issue through the multilateral Six-party talks. [52] Lee also gave assurances that both the U.S. and South Korea would use dialogue to end the crisis.
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 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[53]
There are some critics in Korea who argue 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 at the North-South summit and pursued a hardline policy. [54]
However, Lee Myung-bak in fact has never explicitly refused to honor those previous agreements but rather has maintained 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 received calls for resignation after detractors claimed he kowtowed to the US government over the importation of US beef, which had been tainted by mad cow disease in previous years.
Concerns over a possible threat to public health from US beef imports in South Korea in relation to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement caused popular opposition to the Lee administration to grow. The government's original agreement with the U.S. had limited beef imports to meat produced from cattle under three years of age because younger cattle are thought to be at lower risk of contracting mad cow disease (BSE). This limitation was similar to the agreement between Japan and the U.S.; shortly after Lee's visit to the U.S., the agreement was altered to remove limitations on cattle age. Many Koreans considered this a betrayal, and there was talk of attempting to impeach Lee. Lee later said that a deal had been reached that may allow Korea to ban U.S. beef if it is found to pose a threat to public health. Under the deal, in the event of a recognized outbreak of BSE, the U.S. government will conduct an investigation and inform Korea of the results. Korea can suspend imports, according to the agreement, "if the additional case(s) results in the World Organization for Animal Health recognizing an adverse change in the classification of the U.S. BSE status." The United States is currently recognized as a BSE-controlled country.[55]
In an interview, Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun said the policy will be pursued "with the maximum prudence, as it will take time for the U.S. to grasp the situation in Korea and gather opinions inside the industry." The government's policy is to ban import of beef from older cattle "under any circumstances, either through renegotiations between governments or self-regulation by importers."[56]
U.S. bone-in beef from cattle slaughtered and processed according to Korea's new import regulations, the Quality System Assesment(QSA), is set to arrive in Korea nowadays.[57]
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.[58] Lee has been called "authoritarian,"[59] "pro-big business and anti-labor." Lee vowed in 2007 to "get rid of" political and "hard-line" unions.[60]
Amnesty International highly criticized the human rights violation caused by the presidency of Lee Myung-bak. Amnesty International accused Lee Myung Bak of ordering South Korean police to use excessive force against protestors who were demonstrating against Lee's policies.[61]
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. [62] 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 of KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), the country's most powerful television network.
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. Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (a Korean television network) is 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.
Some feel that Lee's religious beliefs present 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 the 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!" Lee reportedly received 80% of Korea's Christian votes.[63]
In August 2008, Buddhist monks protested against Myung-bak's pro-Christian politics.[64] Lee Myung-bak and his government has been accused by many Buddhist groups, including the influential Jogye order, of discriminating against and promoting hostility toward Buddhism.[65] 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. [66] A former pastor and presidential secretary showed the government's hostility and intolerance toward Buddhism when he compared the protesters against religious discrimination to “Satan’s minions.”[67]
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,[68] which would cause irreparable damage to a significant portion of Korea's cultural legacy.[69]
Lee is widely considered pro-U.S.[70] 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.[71]
Lee Myung-bak has faced strong criticism over his choice of political appointees – many of whom are wealthy. 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, which is reputably known as a GNP stronghold. [72] 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. [73]
Lee has proposed a number of changes to the country's education system, reportedly with the aim of making education more appealing to the upper class. [74] Teachers have been highly critical of these changes, arguing that Lee wants to turn education in the country into a "free market" while ignoring the underfunding of education in regions outside the Seoul area.[75]Prior to assuming the presidency, Lee’s transition team announced it would implement a nationwide English-immersion program in order to provide students with the language tools necessary to be successful in a highly globalized world. Under this program, all classes would have been taught in English by 2010. However, Lee abandoned the program after facing strong opposition from parents, teachers, and education specialists. [76]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Roh Moo-hyun |
||