Political Circles Abuzz with the Disclosure of Criminal Records

The final count shows that out of 1,178 candidates in the 16th general election, 189, or 16 percent, have had brushes with the law beyond the level of imprisonment.

On April 7, the National Election Commission exposed the candidates with criminal records through its Internet homepage (www.nec.go.kr). The most frequent misdemeanors, with 101 candidates, were violations of laws related with political activities, such as the National Security Law and the Assembly and Demonstration Law. Eighty-four candidates had more nefarious offences, including the receipt of bribes, the use of violence, and violations of election laws, but most of these are candidates who have little chance of winning.

The ruling party and opposition parties criticized each other about having candidates with antisocial and nefarious crimes, and questioned whether chusa faction members (those who follow Kim Il-sung's chuche ideology, pro-North Korea philosophy) were included among the former political prisoners.

Yang Yun-soo of the Democratic Labor Party, running in Seoul's Chongno Constituency, had five previous offenses, including the breach of the Assembly and Demonstration Law. Lee Suk-jae, an independent running in Haenam-Chindo Electorate of South Cholla Province, also had five convictions, including the use of violence. When proportional representation candidates are added, the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) had 45 candidates with previous offenses, the Grand National Party (GNP) 32, the Democratic People's Party (DPP) 27, and the United Liberal Democrats (ULD) 25.

Excluding 15 candidates on the proportional representation list, out of 174 candidates with criminal records, 65 are running in Seoul, showing that the largest number is concentrated in the capital. Those with conviction records are running in 120 constituencies, while 107 electorates have no candidate with previous offenses.

Kim Han-gil, the MDP campaign spokesman, said, "Now it is clear that our party paid the dearest price for democratization," as he explained about MDP candidates who broke laws related with political activities (33 in number).

Lee Won-chang, the GNP campaign spokesman, said, "Some 386 MDP candidates (those in their thirties, entered college in the 1980s, and were born in the 1960s) were chusa faction members, who praised North Korea and advocated communist revolution." He demanded their withdrawal from the candidacy.

The the ULD criticized the MDP and GNP candidates with political conviction records saying they were "leftists." On the other hand, the the DPP apologized saying that its nomination deliberation was not careful enough due to the short time for the founding of the party.

by Kim Kyo-joon