Suffice it to say the pardoning of former Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee — just four months into a sentence it took a decade to get — makes me sick.
And I say that as someone who, by and large, considers himself a fan of Samsung and its products.
What I want to know is this, though — if Pyeongchang fails to win the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, can we stick Lee back in jail?
Anyway, the Hankyoreh wants to know what deals got made with whom:
Meanwhile, there also appears to be an unseemly shadow of a private transaction lurking at the edges of Lee Kun-hee’s pardon. The formal reason President Lee gave for the pardon was that it may assist in drawing the Winter Olympic Games to Pyeongchang. A successful Olympic bid would certainly suit the palate of the president, who would get to add another item to his list of achievements, however, Lee Kun-hee has already worked intently on drawing the Olympics twice before, only to fail both times. The President must know that having the former Samsung chairman involve himself in the battle for the Olympic Games does not provide a guarantee of success. As a result, attention is focusing on what quid pro quo Samsung will offer to show its gratitude.
It has long been rumored in the business world that Samsung had launched an all-out effort to get Lee Kun-hee pardoned, and offered all sorts of proposals to gladden the Lee administration. One rumor suggested a possible relocation of Samsung to Sejong City. Of course, it is still too early to conclude that Samsung made a promise of service in return, but if one was made, its content will come to light soon enough. If indeed Lee Kun-hee’s pardon was the result of a secret transaction between Samsung and those in power, this will become a matter that is difficult for people to simply overlook. We will watch with interest to see how things play out in the days ahead.
I think commenter “iheartblueballs”‘s comment here is perhaps the best observation on the pardon I’ve read anywhere:
Funny how the cadre of sympathetic supporters of chaebol crooks and boosters of the “national interest” over the rule of law are usually the same dimwits lamenting the Korean Discount.
Never occurred to these short-sighted patriots that perhaps if they quit treating common criminals like national heroes, stop handing out pardons like candy, and prove to the rest of the world that they have at least a minimal level of interest in establishing a consistent pattern of punishment and deterrent, then that discount would likely diminish and with enough effort, slowly disappear.
And perhaps the disappearance of that discount would be of far greater value and importance to the long-term national interests than would a one-off debt bomb like hosting a Winter Olympics, the only value of which will be to send an uri nara tingle up the legs of Koreans, and which will do little else but waste public funds on building up an infrastructure that will be useful for 3 weeks, and then sit idle and empty for decades.
Amen.
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“iheartblueballs”’s comment would have more resonance if it came from a guy whose country didn’t regularly pardon slime buckets like Marc Rich and transfer exorbitant amounts of taxpayer funds to a parasitic financial industry.
Marc Rich was pardoned once, long after he’d fled the country and put himself well outside the reach of the law. Lee gets pardoned, what, every three or four years — ad it’s not just him, it’s every owner-CEO of every major Korean company.
Besides, what difference does it make to the point where the commenter is from? Oh wait, I see it’s Minjokjuuija – the one who’s busy trying to get a real education in the US instead of the third-rate one to which he might aspire here at home. Maybe we should arrange to cancel your visa so you can come home and get the sort of training that will enable you to play according to the local rules.
That makes no sense… Minjokuuija.
Are you trying to say IHBB is Bill Clinton (Pardoner of Mr. Rich)?
I seriously doubt Mr. Clinton consulted with the esteemed Mr. Blue Balls before pardoning his friend.
Did you even take the time to ask Mr. Blue Balls?
Perhaps Mr. Blue Ball was consulted, and advised the president NOT to pardon the scum bag… ever think of that?
Just as all Germans aren’t bad simply because Hilter was German, nor are all North Koreans evil because Kim Jong Il is from Mt. Baekdu, your argument makes no sense. Take a fucking logic class, and grow the fuck up.
You’re officially on my list of people who aren’t worth the 5 seconds it takes to read your comments. Congrats!
Koreans studying in the US aren’t there to get “real educations.” Koreans are there for status signaling and credentialism, just like Americans and everyone else. Korean education is far from perfect, but I wouldn’t say it’s much different from US education in terms of quality. But then again, quality of education isn’t really that important or decisive in determining the prestige or perceived prestige and strength of a particular educational institution or system. Research and power are. And of course US education has much more of both.
Maybe we should arrange to cancel your visa so you can come home and be a financial parasite over there. But then you’d have no comparative advantage, there are just too many financial parasites over there. Pretty soon there’s going to be no industry and middle class left to strip away and feed off of.
God i love this slurring among nations…the world is flexing its muscles, this one will be an interesting era…i’ve been waiting for an hokuto no ken type of reality since i was a child
And, of course!, there’s no relation between the latter and the replication of the people who do it and wield it through the former. Anyway, with your attitude, I’m sure that’s the case, and you’ll come back having learned nothing at all except how you too can be a parasite. Congratulations!
c’mon like a college education really has anything more to offer than a piece of paper and (less and less) access to a comfy job…
When corruption results in actual jail time, Korea will be that much closer to being considered an advanced nation. Until then, it’s simply the Hub of Suspended Sentences.
chiamatt in what country corporate corruption results in actual jail time ? The US ? The UK ? You’re joking, right ?
Q: How do you say “fenqing” in Korean?
A: Minjokjuija
You’ve already lost all cred, dude and brain-dead nationalism is widely available elsewhere. When you find yourself in a hole at the Marmot’s Hole, stop digging.
I think the relation is far from clear cut with many confounding variables. I’m not sure that I’ll be learning nothing at all except how to be a parasite, but I will say that much of US education at the present time (I’m sure it wasn’t like this in the past, and who knows about the future) seems geared towards training parasites, either financial ones or social and political ones.
If it makes you feel any better, I started learning about these ideas from an American professor. Although not in the education system but by reading his blog: “School Is Propaganda”
slim,
I’m not in “brain-dead nationalism” territory yet. I haven’t stabbed my own abdomen, cut off one of my fingers, engulfed myself in bees, or set myself on fire yet. I do plan on eating the Taegeukgi soon though. Baby steps, you know?
put a little kochujang on it when you do – it goes well.
I think the proper condiment for Taegeukgi is han. Or was it jeong?
What I want to know is this, though — if Pyeongchang fails to win the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, can we stick Lee back in jail?
Are you naive enough to think that LMB will send LKH right back to jail, if he doesn’t bring home the Winter Olympics?
Jeepers creepers, it must be getting hard to deliver a tongue in cheek comment these days…chalk it up to globalization of the english language I guess.
@15. That one really went that far above your head?
#16 it happens with hard-working, serious students who do not dilly-dally.
they express their thoughts in very well-formed sentences but become a little myopic, with little time time for nonsense like you or me – otherwise their essay grades might slip to a B+.
@#18.
Chalk it up to “blurring the boundary of satire.”
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