Politicians’ artist children under fire for conflict of interest
Last year, President Moon Jae-in’s son Joon-yong was in a war of words with a main opposition party lawmaker over a 14 million won emergency relief fund the President’s son received from the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.
Rep. Kwak Sang-do of the People Power Party initiated the wrangling by openly addressing the concern about a conflict of interest. “I wonder if it was appropriate for the President’s son to receive the state subsidy aimed to help the pandemic-stricken artists,” the prosecutor-turned-lawmaker wrote on social media.
His social media message irritated Moon’s son. Moon Jr was quick to react, cynically, to Rep. Kwak’s remarks, claiming the lawmaker appeared not to have fully understood what the fund is for.
“I think he’s mistaken,” he wrote on social media. “The 14 million won relief fund that I received is not a living expense…. I would like to underline that I was chosen as one of the recipients after my proposal was thoroughly reviewed by the committee members. The committee does have criteria when they select recipients.”
But Rep. Kwak was tenacious.
In February, months after he first raised suspicions about the selection criteria of the state subsidy, he disclosed a document revealing the proposal written by President Moon’s son to back up his allegation.
“There were only four lines about how he suffered after the start of the pandemic,” the lawmaker said. He hinted at alleged preferential treatment for the President’s son, claiming only 46 teams of artists out of 281 won the state subsidy and some artists were eliminated even though their proposals thoroughly described how they were negatively affected by the pandemic.
Newly elected Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon has been mired in another conflict of interest allegation after his stepson, Choi Jae-woo, CEO of Busan-based Johyun Gallery, was known to participate in the Art Busan fair and sell several artworks in possession of his gallery.
During a press conference on Monday, the Art Busan organizers confirmed that Choi’s Johyun Gallery will take part in the fair and sell art produced by renowned artists such as Kwon Dae-sup.
The news sparked a pros-and-cons debate about conflicts of interest as the Busan city government is one of the main sponsors of the art event.
Some addressed the concern that the art event may end up becoming a venue for political lobbying under the guise of art sales.
In a media interview, Choi revealed his discomfort with the allegation. “I am ready to take criticism, if necessary, because I am a family member of a politician,” he was quoted as saying. “But I don’t know if my participation in the art fair can be a source of criticism. If so, must I close my business?”
The conflict-of-interest discourse in Korean politics has been taking the form of self-restraint for politicians and their families. They were asked to behave and keep a low profile, particularly in the public space, and not to cause unnecessary trouble.
The teaching of Confucius written in the old book “The Great Learning” or “Daxue” was often touted for aspiring politicians to bear in mind for their successful careers.
It goes, “Those who want to rule the nation must prepare themselves to serve the people from an early age. Train yourself first to have adequate knowledge and mental preparedness, then work on your family and make sure all your family members behave. If these are done, you’re fine to be ambitious enough to rule the country. If you want to rule the world, you must first be a good leader of your country.”
This old wisdom is revisited whenever politicians are caught in a controversy for their spoiled children or other troubled family members.
In the past, children’s delinquent behavior dealt a blow to their parents’ political careers. Some presidential hopefuls suffered the fallout from their sons’ evasion of military duty. Former Gyeonggi Governor Nam Kyung-phil came under fire after his 27-year-old son was arrested for illegal drug use and trafficking. In 2018, his son was sentenced to a three-year jail term suspended for four years.
Rep. Chang Je-won of the main opposition People Power Party was troubled by his rapper son Yongjoon who performs under the stage name Noel. In September 2019, the son had a car accident. His car crashed into a motorcycle in the early morning while he was drunk driving in Seoul’s Mapo District. Last June, he was sentenced to an 18-month jail term suspended for two years.
Unlike in the past, spoiled children and their delinquent behavior rarely affects their parents’ political careers. Chang began his second term in the National Assembly last year.