Lee Myung-bak

Lee Myung-bak
Hangeul	이명박
Hanja	李明博
Revised Romanization	I Myeong-bak
McCune- Reischauer	Yi Myŏngbak
See also : Korean name

Lee Myung-bak (born December 19, 1941 in Osaka , Osaka Prefecture , Japan ) is a South Korean politician . He served as President of South Korea from February 25, 2008 to February 24, 2013 , before that he was Mayor of Seoul . He is a member of the conservative Saenuri party .

From a programmatic point of view, Lee advocated a stronger market orientation in the economy and a more uncompromising line towards North Korea .

biography

Lee Myung-bak was born in Osaka, Japan as Tsukiyama Akihiro ( Japanese 月 山 明博 ). After the Second World War , his family returned to Pohang , South Korea. There he met her again.

In 1964 he was imprisoned for six months because he had protested under the then ruler General Park Chung-hee against an improvement in relations between South Korea and Japan , which had colonized Korea from 1910 until the end of World War II . In 1965 he graduated from Korea University with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

Before going into politics, he was managing director of a total of six different Hyundai companies between 1977 and 1992 . In this position he played an important role in normalizing diplomatic relations between South Korea and the Soviet Union . He also developed relationships with other foreign heads of state, including a. the former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen . In 1992 he was first elected to the National Assembly.

He came into conflict with tax authorities several times, which resulted in a fine of four million won in 1996 . In 1998 he was charged eight million won for violating the electoral law.

From July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2006, he was the mayor of Seoul . His best-known projects during his tenure there included the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon and the expansion of the public transport system. On May 10, 2007 he announced that he wanted to run for the Hannara party 한나라당 , Hannara-dang, Great National Party} as a presidential candidate. On August 20, he defeated the second-placed Park Geun-hye and two practically hopeless applicants in the internal party primary . In the following presidential election , he prevailed against the second-placed Chung Dong-young of the Yeollin-uri party ( 열린 우리당 , Yeollin-uri-dang, Our Open Party). According to the official result, he received 48.7% of the vote, Chung Dong-young only 26.1%.

Lee belongs to the evangelical minority in Korea. He was accused of favoring evangelicals over Buddhists and of stirring up religious conflicts in Korean society. During his time as Mayor of Seoul, he described it as the “holy city ruled by God” and sent messages of greeting to a demonstration of Christian fundamentalists praying for the physical collapse of the city's Buddhist temples.

Acting as President

Lee Myung-bak and Federal President Horst Köhler (2010)

Lee was sworn in on February 25, 2008 as the new President of South Korea. On February 29, the South Korean parliament approved his proposal to form a cabinet under former Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo .

Lee had announced a tougher course against North Korea ; for example, the supply of food from South Korea is made conditional on the end of the North Korean nuclear weapons program . The North Korean government reacted with surprising violence and overshadowed the election campaign for the general election on April 9, 2008 with allegations against Lee . In other economic areas, however, Lee announced closer ties with North Korea.

With a low turnout, Lee's Hannara party won the parliamentary election with a clear lead over the social-liberal Yeollin-uri party and was able to achieve an absolute majority of parliamentary seats for the first time since the party was founded. Lee then announced that he would cut corporate taxes and take action against "hardline unions".

His successor, Park Geun-hye, was the incumbent President of South Korea from February 25, 2013 to March 10, 2017.

State visits

United States

At a summit meeting at Camp David on April 19, 2008, Lee and US President George W. Bush agreed to strengthen their bilateral relations. At this meeting, both heads of state rejected the plan to reduce the 28,500 US soldiers stationed in South Korea, so that the troop strength at that time was maintained.

Bush welcomed the opening of the South Korean market for US beef products that had been decided the previous day. With this decision, an essential requirement for the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between Korea and the USA (KORUS FTA) by the US Congress was fulfilled. Lee faces protests domestically in response, including a. as many Koreans see US cattle imports as dangerous because of previous BSE cases .

In addition, both sides unanimously confirmed the need for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis within the framework of the six-party talks in which South and North Korea, the USA, Japan, China and Russia are involved.

Japan

On the occasion of a state visit to Japan at the end of April 2008, Lee and Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met for talks. They agreed to intensify cooperation in relation to the nuclear conflict with North Korea and dealing with global issues such as climate change. In addition, they agreed to resume negotiations on the conclusion of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the pursuit of a free trade agreement between the two states of Japan and South Korea. The subject of the discussion was also the possibility of exploring a new production center in South Korea for Japanese investors.

Criminal proceedings

In late March 2018, Lee was taken into custody. The criminal investigation authorities accused him of corruption , abuse of power, tax evasion and embezzlement, among other things . On October 5, 2018, Lee was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Seoul District Court. On October 12, Lee's attorney, Kang Hoon, announced that Lee would appeal the verdict.

On appeal on February 19, 2020, the Seoul Higher Court sentenced Lee to 17 years' imprisonment and a fine of 13 billion won. He is also supposed to pay 5.78 billion won to the state. Seoul High Court justices reversed the March 2019 bail release, and Lee was immediately arrested again.

Web links

Commons : Lee Myung-bak  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Interview with the Korea IT Times ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), September 2005 (English)
• Press Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea
• Presidential Office of the Republic of Korea

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 이명박 선친 의 성은 '쓰키 야마 ( 月 山 ) ' 였다 . In: Hankooki. Hankook Media Network , January 19, 2007, archived from the original on March 19, 2012 ; Retrieved April 25, 2019 (Korean, original website no longer available).  
2. ↑ Ser Myo-ja: Lee's ascent marked by persistence , JoongAng Daily of August 21, 2007 (English).
3. ↑ South Korean opposition name presidential candidate , The China Post, August 20, 2007.
4. ^ Former Seoul Mayor Wins South Korean Presidency , Chosun Ilbo, December 20, 2007 (English).
5. ^ President Embarrassed Over Angry Buddhists . Koreatimes.co.kr. July 30, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
6. ^ Buddhists set to protest against Lee's religious bias . In: The Hankyoreh , August 22, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2011. "Buddhists who supported Lee's presidential bid are becoming increasingly disillusioned by his discriminatory behavior" 
7. ^ The Korea Times : Assembly Endorses Han as Prime Minister, February 29, 2008.
8. ↑ South Korea links aid to North Korea with conditions , Reuters, May 19, 2008.
9. ↑ Der Spiegel : State newspaper prints insults against South Korea's president from April 1, 2008.
10. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger : Conservatives win majority in South Korea from April 10, 2008.
11. ↑ Kim Jong-cheol: What are Lee Myung-bak's true colors? , Hankyoreh . August 28, 2007. 
12. ↑ President Lee Myung-bak Apologizes for Mistakes , Der Standard, May 22, 2008.
13. ↑ Tens of Thousands of People Protest Against US Beef , The Korea Times, June 1, 2008.
14. ↑ Police Break Up Anti-US Beef Protest , The Korea Times, June 1, 2008.
15. ↑ The former President of South Korea, Lee Myung Bak, has to be remanded in custody on charges of corruption. NZZ , March 22, 2018, accessed the day after.
16. ^ Arrest warrant for former South Korean president. FAZ.NET , March 22, 2018, accessed the day after.
17. ↑ Der Standard : Lee Myung-bak Sentenced to Imprisonment as Second Ex-President of South Korea in a row , October 5, 2018.
18. ^ Jo He-rim: Lee Myung-bak sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption. In: The Korea Herald . October 5, 2018, accessed October 5, 2018 . 
19. ↑ South Korea's ex-president summons a sentence of 15 years in prison. 76-year-old Lee Myung-bak found guilty of bribery and embezzlement. In: The Standard . October 12, 2018, accessed October 12, 2018 . 
20. ↑ Ex-President Lee Myung-bak sentenced to 17 years in prison on appeal. Retrieved February 19, 2020 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Goh Kun	32nd Mayor of Seoul July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2006	Oh se-hoon

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Lee is the family name here, Myung-bak is the first name.