Lee Myung-bak
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Lee Myung-bak (Korean: 이명박, Hanja: 李明博, born December 19, 1941 in Osaka, Japan) is a former mayor of Seoul, South Korea and is considered a major contender to succeed Roh Moo-hyun as president. He is a member of the Grand National Party. As mayor of Seoul, he was known for his innovative policy initiatives and especially for the restoration of Cheonggyecheon stream. He is regarded as a conservative and has called for South Korea to take a harder line on North Korea and for a greater emphasis on free market solutions.
Elected to the National Assembly of South Korea in 1992, Lee has several times run afoul of campaign finance laws. He was fined 4 million won in 1996, and was indicted in 2002 for beginning electioneering activities too early. He escaped the two-year sentence sought by prosecutors. Prior to entering politics he was the CEO of six Hyundai affiliates between 1977 and 1992. In this capacity he played an important role in bringing about normalization of South Korea's relations with the USSR. A graduate of Korea University, in 1964 he was jailed for 6 months for protesting the normalization of relations with Japan.
On May 10, 2007, Lee officially declared his intention to run for the Grand National Party as its presidential candidate. Although he was not completely satisfied with the primary rules, he committed to comply with the rules set out by the party leadership.
In 2007, he wrote and released a book called "Eomeoni" (meaning mother) which shares the struggles and sacrifices his mother made for him.
He recently came under fire for saying that mothers with mentally disabled fetus should have them aborted. He later apologized for his remark.
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- Lee Myung Bak's Cyworld Minihomepage
- Meet the Presidential Hopefuls: Lee Myung-bak at The Korea Times.
- Interview with the Korea IT Times, September 2005.
- "Seoul mayor sued for traffic chaos", People's Daily, July 14, 2004.
- Interview with the Korea Times, July 1, 2004.
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