EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Sept. 16)

Government of scofflaws
Nominee careers mirror ethical standards of Korean leadership

Right after President Lee Myung-bak took office one-and-a-half years ago, he
appointed 22 officials to be subject to a confirmation hearing.
A civic group's breakdown of various suspicions surrounding the nominees was: 14
cases of property speculation, 11 with doubtful military service records, four
with double nationalities, three with tax dodging, two with plagiarism of
academic papers, two with violations of public officials' ethics law and another
two with falsifying their personal history, when those suspected of more than one
irregularity are included.
It was then that people could confirm widespread rumors that moral or ethical
integrity hardly matters in the Lee administration as long as they have
abilities, including one to hoodwink law enforcement authorities.
It's a small surprise then that the seemingly lighter violations of telling lies
about where they live ??? whether to send their children to better schools or buy
new apartments at bargain prices ??? have come to be regarded as not much of an
offense in this administration. President Lee himself confessed he falsified
addresses five times for his children's education.
Had these violations been known in other administrations or in other countries,
however, the nominees might have served jail time or paid hefty penalties or at
least could have hardly dreamed of sitting at the Cabinet or other high posts.
A person who fakes residential registration to let their children sneak into
better school districts, "boundary hopping" as they call it, faces criminal
charges of larceny or fraud in the U.S. and U.K. with fines of up to $10,000
each. What's more surprising is that the punishment for the same offense in Korea
isn't lighter than these advanced countries ??? up to three years in jail or
fines of 10 million won, a graver crime than even violence and involuntary
homicide.
In the former Roh Moo-hyun administration, a nominee for prime minister failed to
pass the parliamentary hearing because of the very offense, while a sitting
deputy premier had to leave his post for the same reason, under a barrage of
attacks from the then-opposition and now- governing Grand National Party.
In blatant revelation of double standards, GNP lawmakers are calling for focusing
on the overall ability of designates rather than their moral defects in respect
to the original aim of the confirming hearings. Actually, they have either given
up questioning ``our own colleagues" or are idling away their time without making
any preparations at all.
It has been widely expected ??? but still nonetheless sad ??? to reaffirm that
few of the nation's top officials are free from greed concerning the two national
zeal ??? or ills ??? of property speculation and children's education. Or, this
might be the exclusive domain of the haves and the powerful, as most ordinary,
working-class people cannot afford to violate the law if they want to.
At least two appointees ??? tapped for justice minister and Supreme Court justice
??? are advised to withdraw their nominations if for no other purpose than to
save the face of not just the judiciary branch but the whole nation. It defies
our understanding how they would deal with address fakers, some 1,500 of whom
were indicted last year alone.
President Lee seems not to have many options: pick people who don't have their
own house, children, or both. Or drop his slogan of establishing the ``rule of
law" ??? for it seems unlikely he would cancel his appointment.
(END)