The allegations surrounding Seoul mayor Lee Myung Bak's "emperor's tennis" are growing more serious. That is because not only has more inappropriate conduct come to the public's attention, but his explanations about what took place are inconsistent.
It turns out that Lee was playing tennis during a major rainstorm, the day civil servants went on strike, and even when sidewalk venders in the Cheonggyecheon area held a massive street protest. It looks like former prime minister Lee Hae Chan should not have been the only one to be criticized for, in his case, playing golf on the March First holiday.
The city government's "Seoul Sports Council" was a hotbed of irregularities. Someone who helped Lee during his election campaign was given the specially created position of vice president there, a typical example of a parachuted appointment. Perhaps as payback, the man not only made the reservations for the mayor's weekend tennis sessions, it has been revealed that he also organized a political organization for the express purpose of supporting the mayor, and the organization openly used city funds, something that would be unthinkable unless it had Lee's political backing. People are already expressing doubt about the legitimacy of the city's in-house audits.
Lee's less-than-convincing version of events has only added to the questions. Initially he said he played tennis on 51 occasions and spend W6 million of his own money to do so, and that an additional W20 million was paid for by his tennis club, meaning, according to Lee, that he had nothing to do with allegations someone paid his way. However, the W20 million paid by the tennis club was actually paid by its general manager, a man by the name of An, and it turns out that he is not someone with a lot of money to throw around, having taken out a loan on collateral in order to subsist. What that means is that Lee was lying when he said that at first they played on his money, then club members decided to collect money to be able to play together. It is also strange that instead of giving another explanation, he has broken off contact with the outside world and has been unseen for days.
There are also suspicions he was illegally lobbied for special favors. Though the city officially denies it, the ruling Uri Party alleges that Seon Byeong Seok, the man who initially organized the tennis gatherings, played the role of middleman for an "intelligent transportation data system" company trying to get a construction deal worth more than W10 billion from the city. At Lee's last press conference, however, he said he didn't know Seon, who he had played tennis with on dozens of occasions. It is only natural that what Lee or the city says is seen as unreliable.
The allegations are growing, and Lee should not just wait around while time goes by. He needs to be frank and state what was done wrong, who will bear responsibility, and how. That is the least of his obligations to the people as someone who intends to run for president. Issuing a truthful explanation and suggesting appropriate solutions would be the way to prevent a wasteful political fight.
The Hankyoreh, 25 March 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Seoul Mayor Must Come Up With Honest Solutions |
