Cho Won-dong and a feather

There are three government officials – each from China, India and Africa. They have a bigger house than they deserve. The Chinese official inflated construction costs from a high way construction project while the Indian official embezzled money through poor construction and the African official made an unfeasible highway construction plan and took away with the entire project cost. Three years ago, the Economist shared this story to criticize corruption in officialdom. Is it different now? Can Korea be an exception? What Plato said sounds eerily scary – “A country that tolerates injustice in ruling cannot function as a community and will be destroyed.”

In Korea where bureaucrats unite like mafia, even when a big corruption scandal breaks out, they take a step back and move like feathers, not the body. Corruption make things go bad from inside. Many ex-government officials who had a record of disciplinary punishments are now in senior positions of state-run organizations and law firms. “Soulless bureaucrats” show the nature of a group that is like the chameleon currying favor with the president under any circumstances.

Cho Won-dong, former presidential secretary for economic affairs, was investigated by prosecutors on Thursday. He is allegedly charged for abusing power after the release of a recording where he said, “Just let her take her hands off. What else do you need?” urging former CJ Group Vice Chairman Lee Mi-kyung to step down for having made left-leaning movies such as Masquerade. Cho behaved like a mid-level boss of a gang. He tried to make an excuse, “It’s something that I had to do as a senior economic advisor to the president.” However, what he said is ludicrous. He stirred controversy in 2013 when a tax increase was a controversial issue, by saying, “The government collects taxes like pulling out goose feathers.” Some said it was his mistake but he must be intrinsically a light person.

When Na Hyang-wook, director general of policy planning at the Education Ministry, was dismissed for saying "the public are dogs and pigs" in July, it was thought as an official’s petty mistake. However, Cho’s collapse sends a different message to the officialdom. The belief that smart people who passed the civil servant examination with a little bit of loyalty do not have to worry about a job for lifetime is now under threat. It is a price to pay as a result of Cho who became an accomplice beyond loyalty.