Moths drawn to a flame: Korea’s response to political scandals

A news article written for the school newspaper.

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In light of the upcoming Korean presidential election on March 9, various political scandals have arisen—and this is not the first time Korean politics have faced issues with corruption. Since the first Korean president in 1948, two-thirds of all presidents have either been jailed, assassinated, exiled, or committed suicide amid investigations. For instance, former President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2016 and imprisoned for 24 years for abusing her presidential power and extorting money with Choi Soon-sil, while Roh Moo-Hyun, Korea’s ninth president, was impeached by parliament and involved in bribery scandals.

In 2022, yet another political scandal has come to light. Lee Jae-myung, a prominent presidential candidate from the Democratic Party of Korea, has recently been embroiled in a scandal in which three whistleblowers exposed various misconducts such as violating the Public Official Election Act, misallocating public funds, as well as abusing political power to forcefully institutionalize his brother in a mental hospital without consent. These allegations are not the only aspect of his presidential claim currently swirling in controversy, however—the death of all three whistleblowers has caught the eye of the public. Though initial investigations suggest that Lee Byung-chul, a prominent whistleblower, died of ordinary health problems, the Korean public continues to scrutinize the sudden death of those who exposed Lee Jae-myung and the corruption prior to his presidential bid.

On the other hand, while darker allegations continue to gain more TV coverage, so do more comedic controversies. One of Lee Jae-myung’s policies is a proposal for hair loss treatment as part of Korea’s national healthcare, an unusual policy that has garnered criticism that he was unfairly trying to garner the votes of the balding population in Korea. Others, however, have expressed gratitude for the policy by revealing their experiences with the staggering prices of anti-hair loss pills and treatment. Even more lighthearted controversy surrounds another prominent opposition candidate of the People Power Party, Yoon Seok-youl, who mistakenly held up his hand to the camera which had the traditional Korean character for “king” written on it. As the other candidates noticed the letter, Yoon Seok-youl was accused of “shamanism” by netizens online.

Despite recently appreciating some of the more humorous aspects of politics and the attempts of politicians to garner votes, Koreans seem to scrutinize presidential candidates and their scandals more than citizens of other nations. Though politicians in the US can retain their political influence whilst swearing and having a myriad of allegations against them, Korean candidates are not given the same liberties—they are expected to be perfect with their immaculate smiles and carefully crafted TV appearances, and an expletive would tarnish their public reputation. Perhaps as a result of Korea’s socially conservative culture resulting from deep-rooted Confucian values, Koreans continue to paint a picture of perfect candidates who shake their fists with vigor at the newest social reform campaigns with no perceivable moral flaws—which also conversely ensues in deafening outcry when it is discovered that these “perfect” nominees are, in fact, involved in a series of transgressions.

The general public, however, shies away from heavily mocking or satirizing politics as they do in the US. Though President Trump and President Biden were often “memed” and mocked heavily on online platforms on issues like their age to derogatory name-calling of other countries, past Korean candidates have not been targets of such harsh mockery. With the Korean culture that leads the public to nit-pick every single flaw, comes a more serious approach to domestic affairs. Though representatives are mired in scandals that would otherwise lead them to become widely derided in other countries, the Korean public refrains from criticizing its leaders through scathing cartoon caricatures or satire even when it is evident that misconduct has occurred—perhaps as a remnant of when condemning political leaders was criminalized in the past.

When it comes to the benefit of the nation, the facade Korean politicians wear may not necessarily be beneficial. Voters, after all, judge each presidential candidate not solely on their policies, but also for qualities such as their ability to compromise and lead an entire country. If every single candidate on their ballot is the same cookie cut-out of what presidential hopefuls believe the public wants, it may only discourage voters and create suspicion on the true motives and policies the future president has in mind.