Kings and Rulers

Happy (slightly belated) Birthday, Queen Elizabeth. On Friday, Queen Elizabeth became Britain’s oldest-ever ruling monarch. And, while there’s still a year left before the American Presidential campaign ends, here in Korea, they’ve just elected a new President.

If you read Paul’s last blog, you might have watched the YouTube video of the Korean Parliament, where fist fights broke out last week. The current President (from the liberal party) has accused the President-elect (from the conservative party) of embezzlement, fraud, and stock manipulation. Though they’ve been campaigning for months, President Roh felt that these charges should be brought out less than a week before the election.

I brought this up with my coworker on our way to the end-of-the-year-dinner last night. “Lee has been accused of stealing money and bad business practices,” I said. “Yes,” she replied rather nonchalantly. “Americans are very concerned with morality. Koreans… not.”

I didn’t really know what to say, but before I was able to speak, she went on, explaining that since most Koreans favored the conservative party for this election, President Roh’s accusations were shameful. She explained that Lee Myung-bak had been elected on his economic platform, that he was in favor of English education, and that he was pro-American rather than pro-North Korea. She said that Koreans were upset with the aid that the liberals had given to the North Koreans.

Sometimes, you reach your destination a little too soon. Our conversation ended abruptly, and I didn’t want to resume it again over dinner. So, the rest of what I’ve learned I got from the Toronto Star and New York Times.

Lee was elected on a “747” economic promise. The first 7 is the promise of a 7% economic growth a year. The 4 stands for $40,000. The average Korean makes about $20,000 a year; Lee has promised to double the average income. The second 7 is the promise that Korea will become part of the world’s top seven economies.

Those are some pretty big promises to fulfill. Especially since Korean Presidents are limited to one five-year term in office. I don’t know much about economics, but I have a hunch that pledging to give all Koreans a unicorn might be more realistic….

As for his business practices, Lee has admitted to using fake addresses in order to enroll his children in better schools and registering his children as employees of his company in order to evade taxes. It seems like even though the Koreans will recognize these things as wrong, they’re willing to overlook them in the name of economic growth. From the Star:

Many Koreans, inured to a history of corruption among their business and political leaders, seemed ready to overlook Lee's problems.

"Politicians are all thieves," said Chung Jun-muk, 64, a retiree who supported Lee. "At least Lee Myung-bak is smart. He may have gone into the den of thieves, but he won, both in business and politics."

After Yu Mi’s dismissal of Lee’s corruption, I was a bit shocked. She is, after all, a Christian. How on earth could a Christian be willing to turn her head in the face of such apparent immorality? But, of course, that question can only lead to wondering about all of the evils in our countries that we ignore because of pragmatism. After all, one of Yu Mi’s questions at the beginning of our conversation was, “Is your President moral?”