List of political scandals in South Korea
The new president, James Earl Carter Jr., had campaigned on a promise to phase out the remaining division in South Korea, and the revelation of the scandal further solidified that position.
[1] In May 1980, democratic protesters were killed, wounded, and tortured by armed forces under the command of General Chun Doo-hwan, who had seized control of the government through the Coup d'état of December Twelfth of 1979.
In this way, starting with $7 million saved through the alimony of her two former husbands, Jang personally manipulated nearly $1 billion through her underground lending network, or 17 percent of the total South Korean money supply.
In addition, Jang's brother-in-law, Lee Gyu-gwang, was the uncle of President Chun himself, and he was considered to have played a key role in carrying out the fraud.
[7] Hanbo Steel received illegal preferential treatment from the government of Korean president Kim Young Sam, including in form of loans, issued by banks to the company under pressure from bribed high ranking politicians and bankers.
[6] Eight other prominent figures, including former Home Minister, Kim Woo Suk, several presidential aides and parliament members, and two former presidents of the Korea First Bank, were handed sentences as well.
[5][9] Furgate refers to the late-1990s corruption and scandal involving senior South Korean government figures and their wives, who have spent bribery money on luxury items, primarily furs and jewelry.
[7] In 2003, it was discovered that the Kim Dae-jung administration had sent millions of dollars to North Korea to realize the 2000 inter-Korean summit, using Hyundai Asan as a conduit.
Most of the conversations were conducted by Conservative politicians of the Grand National Party organizing bribes during the 1997 South Korean presidential election.
The scandal does not end there, as the authorities also examine the general role of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in political and personal affairs.
In July 2005, South Korean police stormed the home of Kong Un-young, an intelligence agent at NIS, retrieving 274 cassettes.
Following the evidence of NIS participation, some Grand National Party leaders claim that the Roh Moo-hyun administration must have been aware of the wiretapping.
A Saenuri party deputy, Koh Seung-duk, had revealed in early January 2008 that he had received a package of three million won from the Park Hee-tae team, a transaction confirmed by the former assistant of the latter.
The NIS then employed psychological warfare experts and conducted an aggressive Internet campaign to discredit Liberal opponent Moon Jae-in and convince voters still undecided.
Indeed, thanks to her close ties with the president, Choi had access to confidential documents, became involved in various state affairs and put pressure on different chaebols (national companies).
