First prime minister Lee Hae Chan played himself an "inappropriate" round of golf on the March First holiday, and now Seoul mayor Lee Myung Bak is in trouble for issues related to a recent round of tennis. Not all of the facts are out yet, but what has been learned already is quite disappointing.
To begin with, he seems to take it as a matter of course that he should enjoy special favors. He says he went to the city's indoor tennis court on Namsan on only 51 occasions; fifteen times in 2003, seventeen times in 2004, and nineteen times in 2005, but the but problem is that that he had special access that involved denying regular members the right to use the facility.
On paper he was "invited" by the Korea Athletic Promotion Association, but in fact he got to use the courts whenever he wanted. The organization sent a letter to the Seoul Tennis Association, and in it you there was a verbal agreement in which the mayor would get to use the courts any time he wanted to on weekends, at which time regular club members would be completely forbidden from using them. The Seoul Tennis Association denies that was the case, but if such promises had not been made, how would it have been able to clear out court users for the whole weekend then demand to be paid for usage? It's only natural that it is being called "tennis for an emperor."
The issue about usage fees shows you something about mayor Lee's sense of ethics. He says he didn't pay anything because he had been "invited," but it makes you want to ask if he means to say he felt nothing awkward at all about being invited dozens of times by just two individuals. Hastily forking out W6 million after the fact does not resolve the issue at hand, because it was a clear violation of behavioral guidelines for civil servants. According to officials at the courts, whenever mayor Lee's office called in to let them know he would be showing up in a few days, they would give him a reservation and then try to find coaches and players he could play with. In other words, the story about having been "invited" is a lie. Lee personally needs to issue an explanation.
The Hankyoreh, 17 March 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Problems With The Mayor's Tennis |
