South Korea elects Buisnessman; Does great monkey impression.
Lee Myung-bak has won the Korean election for President by as much as 25 points; Even though you might not be able to pronounce his name, his win is an important one, for both practical and ideological reasons. Why is he so popular, and whats his story?
As with most successful buisnessmen, he may have some skeletons in his closet. Currently he is under investigation for corruption. The case was previous closed, but has been reopened with new evidence that links him to an investment firm that stole millions of dollars from their investors. Since Lee Myung-bak has won the election, he can’t be prosecuted until after his 5 year term ends. Lucky him.
He does have extensive experience in both business and politics. He was involved in real estate, which earned him as much as $40 million dollars, and was also a Hyundai executive. Being Mayor of Seoul showed his more “green-friendly” side, by restoring the Cheonggyecheon stream in the center of Seoul. The cost will eventually make it a multi-billion dollar project, which made a lot of people along the river loose their homes, and most environmentalists say that it does nothing for the environment. But it does looks pretty.
His domestic stance is what he calls “Korea 747 Vision”, in which he wants to double the GDP of Korea to $40,000 and make it the 7th largest economy. He also calls for more deregulation of the economy, lower corporate taxes (no surprise), typical market tycoon stuff. Internationally, he wants to pressure North Korea into creating free trade zones, which he hopes will encourage more cooperation between the two Koreas.
So what does electing this man say about Korea today? Most are afraid of stagflation, and with the cost of living rising, Koreans today don’t feel that a growth of 3-5% a year is enough. Lee Myung-bak has promised a return to the days of 7%+ per year, and with his background in business, most feel he can provide that. He may be corrupt, but if he can make himself all of that money, why can’t he do that for Korea too?
Comments
Leave a Reply
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. - Blogarama - The Blog Directory
-
