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Prices of presidential garments

Posted December. 09, 2016 07:11,   

Updated December. 09, 2016 07:22

한국어

Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, even sold off fertilizers for White House grounds to help pay for her clothes. Nancy Reagan, wife of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, became the subject of gossips for borrowing designer gowns and not always returning them. Laura Bush, the wife of former U.S. President George W. Bush, complained that she had to buy too many clothes just because she was the First Lady. To female leaders, fashion is political action, rather than just clothing.

Tailor Lee Yeong-won, who made clothes for former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, British Prince of Wales Charles, and the late Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chul, once compared clothes to a silver plate and persons to golden apples. His philosophy was that clothes themselves should not be too glamorous but should highlight the person wearing them through refined restraint. Former Secretary of State and former Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton emphasized the image of the American Dream by wearing the suit of Ralph Lauren, a major U.S. fashion brand. In contrast, South Korean President Park Geun-hye went on overseas trips wearing dresses made by obscure dressmakers under orders from her confidante in a sample-making room without even a signboard. It is skeptical whether such dresses exuded the refined restraints of a silver plate or the class of golden apples.

During the Wednesday parliamentary probe into the high-profile corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her close confidante Choi Soon-sil, Ko Yeong-tae, a close business associate of Choi, told lawmakers that he had delivered 15 million won (12,909 U.S. dollars) worth of bags and 30 million won (25,818 dollars) worth of clothes to the president and that Choi paid for them with the money out of her own purse. It is estimated that the 370 dresses delivered to the president would be worth more than 700 million won (602,410 dollars) based on the price tags of designer boutiques in Cheongdam-dong, a prestigious shopping area in southern Seoul. If Choi had bought the dresses and bags for the president in anticipation of special favors, the act would constitute bribery, which could subject Choi to up to five years in prison or up to 10 years of suspended license regardless of the amount of money spent.

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday denied the bribery allegations, claiming that the president herself “made exact payments for all the garments.” The office added that the garments included items for Park’s personal and official use, meaning that the sources of the money were the president’s personal funds and Cheong Wa Dae’s official expenses. Had the president paid for such high-priced garments with her own money, however, how would she explain that fact that her personal assets increased by 340 million won (292,600 dollars) every year. If the payments were covered by official funds, it means that Choi, a person with no official position, implemented state budget. Cheong Wa Dae’s lame explanations are only fueling suspicions.