Investigating the Korean Scandal

In Foreign Policy
08:40 PM, Dec 26, 2016
Shashank Davanagere

As I started to write about the Korean Scandal, I realized that not many of us would know the history of Korea and the context in which the scandal happened. To address that we take a brief look at Korean history, their mega-conglomerates, shamanism and the actual scandal along with its potential implications.

History of Korea

At first Korea was divided into tribes but eventually organized kingdoms emerged. There were 3 of them, Goryeo in the north and Silla and Baekje in the south. The three kingdoms of Korea fought for supremacy. Eventually with Chinese help, Korea was then united under the Silla. Although Korea was united under one monarch it was still largely a tribal society. This was underlined by the existence of the hwabaek. Originally they were a council of tribal leaders. Later they were a council of nobles and they had the power to decide who succeeded to the throne.

Korean society was strictly hierarchical. Most of the population were serfs and even the nobility were divided into ranks. Following the Chinese example a university was formed where Confucian classics were taught. Buddhism was introduced into Korea in the 4th century AD and soon many Buddhist temples were built. One warlord called Wang Geon formed a state called Goryeo in 918. He defeated his rivals and in 935 became ruler of Silla. The modern state of Korea derives its name from Goryeo state. The Mongols were unable to take the island but they were able to rampage throughout mainland Korea. However the Koreans fought back and the Mongols were never able to completely subdue Korea.

In the 13th century the Chinese philosophy called Neo-Confucianism arrived in Korea. In 1392 a General named Yi Seong-gye was ordered to lead an army against the Ming rulers of China. Instead he turned against his own ruler. The general became the new king of Korea. That was the end of the Goryeo kingdom ^[1].

The new king moved the capital to Hanseong (Seoul) in 1394. Under the Yi rulers Confucianism was made the official religion of Korea. Buddhism lost its influence. In Korea there was a class of scholars-officials called the yangban. In order to join the civil service or to become an army officer you had to pass certain exams in Confucian thought. In order to take the exams you had to be the son of a yangban. So the scholar-official class were hereditary. Below the yangban were a class of clerks and specialists like doctors and accountants. They were called the jungin (middle-men). Below them was the great mass of Korean society called the yangmin. They were peasants, craftsmen and merchants. Certain trades such as butchers, tanners and entertainers were outcasts. At the bottom of the pile were slaves.

The Yi rule was followed by Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. It was defeated but Korea was under a lot of flux for the next 3-4 centuries. Then in the 18th century Jesuit priests traveled to China. Koreans visiting China met them and by the end of the 18th century some Koreans had been converted to Catholicism. In 1894, the old rigid division of Korean society into classes was abolished. In the past the Yangban, the scholar-official class, were not allowed to be involved in trade. Now they were free to engage in business. The old civil service exams based on Confucian thought was abolished. New exams were introduced based on modern subjects. A new curriculum was introduced for schools with modern subjects. Slavery was abolished. Widows were now allowed to remarry and child marriage was abolished. By 1900 there were many Protestant missionaries in Korea ^[2,3]. By 1910 there was a small but rapidly growing number of converts. Korea was under Japanese control from 1910 to 1945.

Rise of Chaebols

Modern Korean history from 1948 thru 1961 was marred with Korean War [which ended in 1953] and a government whose main aim was to stop the spread of communism. The per capita GDP of Korea in 1953 was mere $67 [compared to US’ which was $2449] ^[4]. The governments of Syngman Rhee and Yun Bo-seon did nothing to address this. It was at this juncture that an Army General, Park Chung-Hee took over the government in a bloodless coup. Chung-Hee served with distinction in the South Korean Army during the Korean War and became an expert at logistics. He received a year of special training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma ^[7].

Following official recognition of his regime by the US, Park decided that for South Korea to become a strong nation, it needed a strong economy. The Kennedy administration gave outright support to Park after catching wind of the economic reforms to come; they needed Japan and South Korea to be thriving, nominally democratic buffers against the Communist bloc. Park's program for the economic development was modeled more on Meiji-era Japan than the Soviet Union. Park coaxed, intimidated, manipulated and outright threatened the companies for cooperation. But the president also offered incentives -- government and foreign loans, relaxed regulations and tax cuts. And thus were born the “Chaebols”. Samsung and LG were already flourishing and were in the top ten businesses in the country when Park took control. He was also instrumental in bringing new blood chaebols like Hyundai and Daewoo.

When the chaebols began to expand in the 70s, Hyundai built a shipyard without ever having made a ship before!! Daewoo’s rise can be attributed to its founder’s father being a mentor to President Park. It was allowed to grow by giving it the first rights to purchase debt-ridden public companies, with the express blessing of Park!! Daewoo transformed itself into a mega-conglomerate ^[4].

Park’s government also transformed the South Korean economy into an export-oriented dynamo by heavily influencing the direction of companies. He decided to get the companies to focus more on shipbuilding, machinery, electronics, chemicals and automobiles. And thus rose the modern mega chaebols which account for 80% of Korean GDP ^[6]!!

As is obvious the line between Politics and Business has been blurred since Park’s time in the sense that both fed off each other to grow stronger together. There have been recorded cases of Presidential corruption in Korea over the past many presidents ^{[8, 12]}. In 1974, President Park’s wife took a fatal bullet meant for him. Park’s daughter (and the just resigned President, Park Geun-hye) was 23 at that time. The President himself would be assassinated by his Intelligence Chief in 1979, but a letter whose flutter would cause typhoon later on had already made its way to the young Geun-hye in 1974 ^[13].

Religion in Korea

Technically, 27% of Koreans identify themselves as Christians, 15% as Buddhist and an overwhelming 55% identify as having no religion ^[2], although majority of the unaffiliated are followers of “Shaman”. Korean shamanism, also known as Muism or Sinism is the ethnic religion of the Koreans. A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing ^[9].

A Korean shaman-priest is called “Mu” or “Mudang”. It is believed that when a shaman is in trance, the shaman's soul leaves his body to other realms, where helping spirits guide him / her in their work. The guidance received by the mudang is believed to take into consideration, not only the whole person, but the individual's interaction with his environment, both his inner and outer world. The soul is considered the place of life breath, where a human's essence (life energy) resides, and any physical illness is linked with sickness of the soul. Illness of the mind has its origins (root cause) in soul loss, intrusion or possession ^[9].

Choi Tae-min was the founder of an obscure sect called the Church of Eternal Life. He was a Buddhist monk and had converted to Roman Catholicism. By 1970s, Choi was fully engaged in the occupation for which he would be known: being a cult leader, claiming to heal people. Choi called himself a pastor, but he never attended a seminary.

Shortly after her mother’s assassination, Choi sent several letters to Park Geun-hye, claiming that the soul of Park's mother visited him, and Park could hear from her mother through him. Park invited Choi Tae-min to the presidential residence, and the elder Choi told her there that Park's mother did not truly die, but merely moved out of the way to open the path for Park Geun-hye. This was the beginning of the unholy relationship between Park Geun-hye and Choi's family, which included Choi Tae-min's daughter Soon-sil ^[10].

The Rise of the Cabal

It was the beginning of a relationship which would change the fate of Park Geun-hye. Choi Tae-min won Geun-hye's confidence which he leveraged to amass a fortune. He set up a number of foundations with Geun-hye as the nominal head. In a very short period of time, it came to a point where the elder President Park had summoned Tae-min and personally interrogated him! It should be noted that the all-powerful President Park was powerless to influence his own daughter away from Tae-min!!

In a WikiLeaks cable from 2007 when Park Geun-hye first ran for president, the U.S. Ambassador for Korea noted: "Rumors are rife that the late pastor had complete control over Park's body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result." Park Geun-hye became estranged from her sister and brother under the influence of Tae-min. When Choi Tae-min died in 1994, Park Geun-hye's confidence moved to Choi's daughter, Soon-sil.

It's now revealed that Choi [and a group of eight women] extorted tens of millions of dollars from Korea's largest corporations. Choi alsoo runs two non-profit foundations that prosecutors say boasted of its ties with the president to collect more than $70 million in donations from the country's major conglomerates. It is yet unclear, who exactly are part of this cabal known as ‘The Eight Heavenly Fairies.’ We only know thus far that they are a group of eight women and that Choi Soon-sil is the leader. The other women are expected to be CEOs, wives of powerful CEOs, women politicians etc. ^[12]

More importantly, Choi effectively controlled the presidential power. Every day, Choi would receive a huge stack of policy briefs from the presidential residence to discuss with the Cabal. Choi would receive top-secret information detailing secret meetings between South and North Korean military authorities. The Cabal also received in advance the budget proposal of more than $150 million for the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, which, they distributed amongst friends projects.

To give an example of the influence this Cabal has had on Korea sample this - Choi had predicted, according to the spirits that spoke to her that North Korea would collapse by 2017. The Park Geun-hye administration may have set its North Korea policy based on this claim ^[10]! Park Geun-hye had given Choi a sizable budget to purchase the presidential wardrobe, and instead of purchasing the clothes that befitted a head of state, Choi outfitted Park Geun-hye with crappy clothes while embezzling most of the budget. The cheapness in the President’s style had even made headlines ^[14].

Unravelling of the Cabal

So far all of these had been hidden from the public. Even though most of the public suspected that Choi and her cronies were indulging in corruption on Geun-hye’s name, nothing had prepared them for the shock to come. And all it took for this carefully crafted “empire” to unravel was grades. If there is one thing that Koreans cared more than their lives, it is their (and their children's) college degree.

Choi had used her influence to get her daughter admitted to the prestigious Ewha Womans University, since the daughter, Chung Yoo-ra had not qualified for admission on her own. This was packaged as the girl receiving scholarship for her equestrian skills. Chung doesn't do so well in school and decides to take some time off but still demands her grades to be given to her as if she had completed her semester. The Professor says no. This incurs the wrath of the Choi who successfully convinces the professor to give her the grades. This leads to a massive 80 day protest from students of that university for preferential treatment given to Chung ^[15]. And this in turn leads into investigation that eventually reveals the girl's mother had a personal relation with President Park. As the heat rose against Choi and her daughter, they hightailed to Germany where they owned a horse farm.

The major breakthrough occurred on October 24, when a cable TV network JTBC discovered a Galaxy Tab belonging to Choi Soon-sil in the office that she abandoned. The tablet was unencrypted and all the communication was there for anyone to view. It had the presidential speeches with Choi's markups, presidential briefs for cabinet meetings, appointment information for presidential aides, chat messages with presidential aides, the president's vacation schedule, and draft designs for commemorative stamps featuring the president, and much, much more ^[10].=

Current State of Affairs

The controversy has led to mass protests and rallies in October and November 2016 calling for President Park Geun-hye’s resignation. On different days in November, more than 1 million citizens participated in the protests demanding her resignation or impeachment. On 9 December 2016, Park was impeached by the National Assembly on charges related to influence peddling by a top aide ^[16]. Her presidential powers and duties have been suspended and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has assumed those powers and duties as Acting President.

As things stand today, Korea is once again at a very critical juncture. The new US administration under Donald Trump may not be willing to expend as much energy in Korean affairs as earlier administrations did. This stems from the statements made by Trump who, as a candidate, had called into question the US security commitments in Korea and Japan. There is also the lack of clarity as to the Prime Minister's powers in these peculiar circumstances. And no one can hope to guess North Korea's appetite for fishing in South Korea's troubled waters with chaos in Seoul. A resolution might come sooner if Park steps down and new elections are held. But Park has insisted she will stay on and wait for the court's deliberations to run their course. At a time when there is a need for strong and clear leadership - with slowdown of world economy, greater geopolitical instability - Korea seems to be clutching at straws and hoping for a miracle. Nevertheless, most Koreans believe that this scandal will result in reforms which will bring about more transparency and accountability within corporations as well as politics and with so many people getting actively involved, it will be a net positive in the end.

References

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Shashank Davanagere

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