How can DP Chair Lee Jae-myung survive?

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How can DP Chair Lee Jae-myung survive?

Lee Ha-kyung

The author is a senior columnist of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung is an iconic self-made politician. Straight out of the elementary school at age 12, he had to work in a factory for a living. Lee survived poverty and various hardships to become a lawyer. He was elected mayor of Seongnam city in 2010 and later the governor of Gyeonggi province. Having achieved the most of his campaign promises, Lee was dubbed as the most hard-working governor. He lost to conservative rival Yoon Suk-yeol in the Mar. 9 presidential election just by just 240,000 votes.

During the campaign, Lee came up with “universal basic” for income, housing and more. As head of the majority opposition, he advanced the concept of “basic society,” where the state provides universal welfare to people so that every citizen can maintain basic dignity. He was expected to contribute to balancing the Korean society designed preferentially for the establishment. Although from a humble background, Lee has never kowtowed to the powerful to share some of the benefits. He proved he could shine on his own through various steps to join the central stage in politics.

Lee is in danger of falling from grace after the Daejang-dong development scandal put him into a corner. The developers involved in the profitable project have turned their backs on him after the change of the governing power. One of them claimed there had been a handsome share in the property riches reserved for Lee’s election and retirement funds. His party headquarters was raided by prosecutors and his closest aides, Jeong Jin-sang and Kim Yong, were arrested. Over the last few days, he has noticeably lost weight presumably from loss of appetite and sleep. If he had won the presidency, such betrayal would have been unthinkable. It is the cruel rule of the jungle.

Although the entire truth cannot be told yet, Lee claims he is a victim to political vendetta. But he should have humbled himself to the rule of life, where in love or politics, “the loser has to fall,” as the lyrics of ABBA’s song “The Winner Takes It All” says.
 
Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung, right, talks with Rep. Jeong Seong-ho, one of Lee’s close aides, at the legislature’s regular audit of the Ministry of National Defense, Nov. 4. [YONHAP]


Lee joined the legislature after winning in a constituency in Incheon despite his lack of any relations to the district in order to earn the immunity of lawmakers. Though he headed the DP’s campaign for the Jun. 10 local elections in which the liberal party suffered a crushing defeat by the conservative People Power Party (PPP), Lee ran and was elected to the chair of the DP. The steps were entirely self-serving without any cause. A poll by the Institute for Democracy, a DP think tank, showed that disappointment with incomprehensible campaign moves — such as the bids by Lee for a parliamentary seat and by former DP head Song Young-gil for Seoul city mayor — were cited as the biggest reason for the party’s colossal defeat in local elections.

Prosecutors are looking into bank accounts of family members of Lee. If an arrest warrant is filed against Lee, the DP holding 169 seats in the National Assembly could face confusion. Lee is also implicated in briberies involving Seongnam FC and SsangBangWool. If the DP defies arrest warrants for the chief under corruption charges three times, the party could be buried in negative public sentiment.

Lee dismisses growing voices in the party demanding he at least apologize for being implicated in corruption charges. When former South Chungcheong Gov. Ahn Hee-jung was being probed for violating the political fund law in May 2003, former president Roh Moo-hyun admitted that Ahn was one of his closest aides who had worked hard and sacrificed for him. The sitting president admitted to the crime of his former subordinate. At a court hearing, Ahn asked the bench to punish him with a heavy penalty to show that no one can be free from the law and justice. Yoo Dong-gyu — the former planning director of Seongnam Development Corporation (SDC) and the architect behind the Daejang-dong development project —claimed that the profits went to Lee. Unlike Roh and Ahn, Lee played a victim, claiming that he believed his aides but was betrayed.

Sacrificing the party to protect himself is unscrupulous. A bigger problem is that Yoon does not accept Lee as a partner in state affairs since he is a “suspect” in a criminal case. The Lee Jae-myung risk has become a risk for the nation.

Lee can learn lessons from former president Kim Dae-jung’s third bid for president. After his defeat was confirmed in the wee hours of Dec. 19, 1992, he dictated a statement to his wife, in which he wrote, “I have once again failed to gain confidence from the people … I will leave all judgment on me to the history and return to the life of a common citizen.”

The former liberal president became an icon of democracy movement for 40 years. Kim ascended as a political hero. Then-president Roh Tae-woo invited him over to comfort him that the people would not forget what he had done for the democracy of the country. Kim gave up his legislative seat and went into self-exile to Cambridge University. His retirement later became the grounds for his return and re-bid for presidency.

A politician serving for the people should not use a political party for his or her own service and cause damage to the nation. Such an act is tantamount to the abuse of political power. DP head Lee must comply with the investigation as an individual to prove his innocence. He must retire from the chairmanship of the party if he wants a second chance. If he returns unscathed, he would be better positioned to run again for president.

It is sad if Lee thinks he can be saved by political privilege.
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