On Thursday Deputy Prime Minister for Finance and Economy Lee Hun Jai personally explained his position about suspicions he engaged in speculative real estate investment. He apologized, saying he had "no intention or thought ahead of time of making any roundabout maneuvers" as far as real estate investment, he said, but "feels shame for ultimately causing controversy" because of suggestions that is exactly what he did. His comments were very unclear, however, and utterly insufficient in resolving the questions that have been surfacing.
The first question that had been raised is about falsely reporting his residence. He is suspected of having moved his "Resident's Registration" (jumin deungnok) to land he bought in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, without ever really residing there, but he gave no clear explanation. The Finance and Economy Ministry he is in charge of issued an indirect explanation but it was hardly convincing. He is even suspected of underreporting the sale price and inaccurately reporting its resale, but despite having directly answered to the questions the suspicions remain unresolved.
The reason he is being asked to explain something that happened way back around 20 years ago is because he is the Deputy Prime Minister of Finance and Economy, and in that capacity he is in charge of real estate policy. He is supposed to lead the way in fighting speculative real estate investment, so if he used illegal or less than aboveboard methods to do just that who will want to believe and submit to the policies he establishes and carries out? Cheong Wa Dae and even the Prime Minister are backing him, but Lee Hun Jai the individual is not what is at issue here. Rather, it is an important measurement of effectively the Participatory Government will be able to carry out real estate with the people's confidence.
And so that is why we propose that a neutral and objective entity investigate the questions, because despite the hopes his explanation does not completely settle the matter. If the investigation concludes that the suspicions have basis appropriate action, and if they are without basis that should be explained to the country in detail so that the people will have their faith in him restored. If there is an attempt to evade the issue the serious lack of confidence in the Deputy Prime Minister will spread to all of the Participatory Government's policies.
The Hankyoreh, 4 March 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Lee Hun Jai's Insufficient Explanation |
