Lee Myung-bak
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| Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 | |
| Image:Lee Myung-bak-2005.jpg
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| Taking office February 25, 2008 | |
| Premier | Han Duck-soo |
| Succeeding | Roh Moo-hyun |
| Born | 19 December 1941 Hirano, Osaka, Japan |
| Political party | GNP |
| Spouse | Kim Yun-ok |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Lee Myung-bak | ||||||||
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- This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Lee Myung-bak (pronounced [i.mʲʌŋ.bak̚]) (born December 19, 1941 in Osaka, Japan) is the President-elect of South Korea and a former mayor of Seoul. He will succeed the incumbent Roh Moo-hyun as the president of South Korea on February 25, 2008. He is a member of the Grand National Party. Lee has stated that he wants to restore relations with the United States for a greater emphasis on free market solutions.[1]
With 48.7% of the vote, he won the election over his rivals Chung Dong-young with (26%) and Lee Hoi-chang with (15%). However, due to the low number of voting participants, the number of votes he won was less than what Roh Moo-hyun won in the previous election.[2]
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[edit] Early life and education
Lee was born in Hirano-ku, Osaka, Japan where his father worked at a cattle ranch. His family returned to South Korea shortly after the Second World War in 1946. He was the fifth child and grew up with three brothers and three sisters in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Lee spent his childhood helping his mother sell ice cream, wheat flour cakes, cloth, fruit, matches, and candy. His mother was an inspiration for his book Mother.
He took evening classes from Dongji Commercial High School. He then went to Seoul to receive his university education. During the day, he worked as a garbage collector and studied for his university entrance exam at night. He gained admission to Korea University where he majored in business administration.
[edit] Early political life
As a university student, Lee ran for the chairman of the student council and won the position. Additionally, he involved himself in street politics. In 1964, he participated in a student demonstration against the normalization of Korea-Japan relations and was imprisoned for six months for his role. As was the case for many students who participated in such demonstrations, his record became an obstacle in his search for employment.
[edit] Economic background
In 1965 he joined Hyundai Engineering and Construction. It was during his employment here that he met his mentor and Hyundai founder Chung Ju-Yung. The company had 90 employees and was expanding its operations in the Middle East during Korea's economic boom of the 1960's and 1970's. Within 5 years, he became an executive and became president in 1977.
It was during his three decades with the Hyundai Group that Lee earned the nickname "Bulldozer" for his drive to push through challenges. In one instance, he completely took apart a bulldozer to study its mechanism and figure out why it kept breaking down. When he started at Hyundai in 1965, it had 90 employees; when he left as chairman after 27 years, it had more than 160,000. [3]
Lee's wealth was made during the real estate boom that occurred in South Korea during the 1970s through the 1990s. Through a series of real estate speculations Lee amassed over US$40 million.
He played a role in bringing about normalization of South Korea's relations with the USSR. Further, Lee also built relationships with foreign leaders, including former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kwan Yew, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
After leaving Hyundai, at the end of a 27 year career, he decided to enter politics.
[edit] Mayor of Seoul
The rapid development that remade the nation and lifted millions out of poverty had a lasting effect on South Korea. Seoul which, while having been transformed from a semi-feudal city to one with modern infrastructure, had also seen its urbanism suffer in the process. Lee said he tried to achieve a balance between function and the environment.[4]
He told the city's people that he would remove the elevated highway that ran through the heart of Seoul and restore the buried Cheonggyecheon stream — an urban waterway that Lee himself had helped pave over in the 1960s. His opponents insisted that the plan would cause traffic chaos and cost billions. Three years later, Cheonggyecheon was reborn changing the face of Seoul. Lee also revamped the city's transportation system, adding clean rapid-transit buses.
[edit] Presidential bid
On May 10, 2007, Lee officially declared his intention to run for the Grand National Party as its presidential candidate. On Monday, August 20, he defeated Park Geun-hye in the GNP's primary to become its nominee for the 2007 Presidential election. During the primary, Lee was accused of profiting from real estate speculation from land that he owned in Dogok, a highly expensive district in Seoul.[citation needed]
A major policy of his platform is a canal project from Busan to Seoul, which he believes will lead to an economic revival. His stated goals are expressed in the 747 plan, which are: 7% annual growth in GDP, $40,000 USD per capita, and making Korea the world's seventh largest economy. His rivals criticize that the project is unrealistic and costly to be realized. Others are concerned of possible ill effects that such projects would have to the environment.
On September 6, 2007, the South Korean presidential office announced that it would file forthwith a libel case against Lee. Chief presidential secretary Moon Jae-In said that the case would be filed to preserve trust in the government.[5]
Signaling a departure from his previous views on North Korea, Lee announced a comprehensive plan for engaging North Korea involving investment as opposed to aid. Lee promised to form a consultative body with the North to discuss furthering economic ties. The body would have subcommittees on economy, education, finance, infrastructure and welfare and a cooperation fund of $40 billion. He would seek a Korean Economic Community agreement to establish the legal and systemic framework for any projects emerging from the negotiations. Lee also called for forming an aid office in North Korea as a way of decoupling humanitarian aid from nuclear talks.[6]
His foreign policy initiative is called MB Doctrine,[7] which advocates engaging North Korea and strengthening the US-Korean alliance.
[edit] Cheonggyecheon, Kim Kyung-joon and the BBK
In 1999 Lee set up several companies for electronic financial services. During this time, he met Kim Kyung-joon. Lee established the LKE Bank with Kim Kyung-joon but this enterprise went bankrupt less than a year later and 5,500 investors lost substantial amounts of money.
In 2002, Lee ran for the mayor of Seoul and won the election. However, he was fined for beginning to start his election activities too early[citation needed]. Lee escaped the two-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors. During his tenure as mayor, he was noted for the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon -- despite strong opposition, controversial changes to the public transportation system, and the revitalization of green spaces.
Prior to the 2007 Election, allegations about his business dealings, specifically regarding BBK, were made. The allegations revolved around the company he supposedly founded and that the investment was a scam and he tried to conceal his investment in the company. On December 3, 2007, Senior prosecutor Kim Hong-il of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, cleared Lee of any wrong doing.[8] However, days before the election, a video clip surfaced of a speech Lee gave to students at Kwangwoon University in October 2000, where he stated he founded BBK.[9] Two days before the election, the National Assembly passed a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to take a fresh look into the allegations against Lee. [10]
[edit] Personal life
Lee is married to Kim Yun-ok (b. 1947) and has three daughters and one son. Lee is also a declared Christian and an elder at Somang Presbyterian Church in Seoul. He was exempt from military service due to respiratory complications.
[edit] Additional reading
- The JoongAng Daily, Lee's ascent marked by persistence
- The Hankyoreh, Who is Lee Myung-bak?
- The Korea Times, Economy-First Trademark Gives Lee Myung-bak Edge
- The Chosun Ilbo, TIME Names Lee Myung-bak 'Hero of Environment'
- Meet the Presidential Hopefuls: Lee Myung-bak at The Korea Times
- Interview with the Korea IT Times, September 2005
- "Seoul mayor sued for traffic chaos", People's Daily, July 14, 2004
- Interview with the Korea Times, July 1, 2004
- The Evolution of a Man Called ‘Bulldozer’ NYT, December 20, 2007
[edit] External links
- Official Website (in English)
- Official website (in Korean)
- Lee Myung Bak's Cyworld Minihomepage
[edit] References
- ^ The Korea Times, President-Elect Vows Creative Diplomacy
- ^ "Lee Myung-Bak won SKorea poll with 48.7 percent of vote - election commission", Thomson Financial News / Forbes.com, 2007-12-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
- ^ New South Korean president — the right man at the right time By Blaine Harden, The Washington Post [1]
- ^ Heroes of the environment: Lee Myung-bak. Time Asia, 9 May, 2007
- ^ Channelnewsasia.com, South Korea presidency to sue opposition frontrunner
- ^ The Chosun Ilbo, Lee Myung-bak Unveils Inter-Korean Cooperation Plans
- ^ Jin, Dae-woong. "Veteran diplomats, academics formulate the MB doctrine", The Korea Herald, 21 December 2007.
- ^ "Lee Cleared, Kim Kyung-joon Indicted in BBK Scandal", Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition), 2007-12-05. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
- ^ "BBK Video Clip Revives UNDP-GNP Tensions", Dong-A Ilbo (English Edition), 2007-12-17. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
- ^ "Special Counsel to Probe Lee Myung-bak", Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition), 2007-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
| Preceded by Goh Kun | Mayor of Seoul 2002–2006 | Succeeded by Oh Se-hoon |
Image:South korea COA.svg South Korean presidential election, 2007 (List of candidates) Image:Flag of South Korea.svg | |
|---|---|
| Liberals (Pro-Govt Primary) | UNDP Primary: Chung Dong-young (Official candidate) - Son Hak-Gyu (Marked 2nd)- Lee Hae Chan (Marked 3rd) Creative Korea: Moon Kook-hyun (Official candidate) Democratic: Lee In-je (Official candidate) - Jang Sang - Kim Min-seok - Shin Guk-hwan |
| Conservatives (GNP Primary) | Lee Myung-bak (Official candidate; president-elect) - Won Hee-ryeong (Marked 3rd) - Park Geun-hye (Marked 2nd) - Hong Jun-pyo (Marked 4th) Independent: Lee Hoi-chang |
| Progressives (DLP Primary) | Kwon Young-ghil (Official candidate) - Shim Sang-jeong (Marked 2nd) - Roh Hoe-chan (Marked 3rd) |
| Independents | Huh Kyung-young (Republican) - Geum Min (Socialist) - Chung Kun-mo (True Owner Coalition) - Chun Kwan (CSFTA) |
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