Some things hardly change in politics

Even after 30 years, the nature of politics has not changed for the better.

WI MUN-HEEThe author is a national team reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo. 1,778,226,070 won ($1.3 million) is the amount of assets voluntarily disclosed by former President Kim Young-sam and his immediate family at the first cabinet meeting he presided over since taking office in February 1993. During the presidential election, Kim promised to disclose the assets of lawmakers and high-ranking government officials, first grade or higher. It was a measure to emphasize the eradication of corruption in power.

The prime minister, the deputy prime minister and the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection also revealed the size of their properties. Then governing party also agreed to disclose the assets of its lawmakers.

They all started from the speaker of the National Assembly, the second in the order of precedence. National Assembly Speaker Park Jyun-kyu reported 4.1 billion won. But it was revealed that he had purchased land several times under his son’s name even though he was a minor.

When suspicions of speculation were raised, he eventually left the governing party, as well as stepped down from the post of speaker of the legislature. To convey his hurt feelings to President Kim, Park said, “It feels like scratching the itchy part of the soles of your feet with your shoes on.”

The controversy over the disclosure of public officials’ assets immediately after President Kim took office led to a complete revision of the 1981 Public Service Ethics Act. The governing and opposition parties unanimously mandated the disclosure of property owned by officials in political service and the registration of property by government officials of grade 4 or higher.

In September 1993, all assets of 1,167 high-ranking officials in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches were made public for the first time in Korea’s constitutional history. The aftermath continued. The chief justice and prosecutor general, who reported 2.7 billion won and 1.9 billion won, respectively, resigned three days apart for their alleged speculation.

Over the past 30 years, items subject to registration of public officials stipulated by the Public Service Ethics Act have been steadily revised. Now, there are more than ten categories, including stocks, jewelry, antiques, and memberships, as well as real estate, cash and deposits. Virtual assets are expected to be added soon.

On May 11, the People Power Party and the Democratic Party (DP) agreed to speed up the review of the bill to add cryptocurrency to the list of property registration for public officials. This is due to the controversy over the possession of more than 6 billion won worth of cryptocurrency by Rep. Kim Nam-kook, a DP lawmaker. While the representative clarified the circumstances, he was criticized for “posing as an ordinary person,” who had previously bragged about his frugality.

“Why did our political party not have the trust of the people in the past? They just do not believe in political parties and politicians who say one thing and mean another,” said former President Kim in April, 1993, when the public officials’ property disclosure scandal was in full swing. Even after 30 years, the nature of politics has not changed for the better.