Lee Myung-bak, a former president of South Korea, poses for a photo while out campaigning for People Power Party candidates in Seoul Forest on June 1, 2026. (Yonhap)
Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye have been remarkably busy ahead of Korea’s local elections on June 3.The former presidents are touring the country, stumping for candidates from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). It boggles the mind that the two received presidential pardons while serving prison sentences for crimes committed while in office.Given their packed schedules and frequent campaign stops, one could easily assume that Lee and Park were on the PPP’s campaign committee.Lee Myung-bak visited Busan on Sunday to support mayoral hopeful Park Heong-joon and other PPP candidates. On Monday, Lee stopped by Seoul Forest in Seoul’s Seongdong District to mingle with voters. That was a few weeks after he accompanied Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on a visit to the Cheonggye Stream in downtown Seoul to send a message of support on May 15.Park Geun-hye has been busy campaigning as well. After visiting Daegu on May 23, she dropped by Okcheon, North Chungcheong Province; Gongju, South Chungcheong Province; and Daejeon on May 25. She went on to Jinju and Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, and the southeastern metropolises of Ulsan and Busan on May 27; Wonju and Hoengseong, Gangwon Province, on May 28; and Namhae, South Gyeongsang Province, on May 29. Then on May 31, she was back in Daegu once more.Former presidents are not obliged to maintain political neutrality. Unlike a sitting president, Park and Lee have every right to support specific parties or candidates according to their personal convictions as citizens.In the US, another country with a presidential system, it’s completely normal to see former presidents traveling the country to attend events and raise funds for candidates they support. Even in Korea, former President Moon Jae-in publicly supported candidates for the Democratic Party in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province in the 2024 general elections, after he was out of office. Lee and Park are also former presidents, but their circumstances are distinctly different. Lee was sentenced to 17 years in prison for accepting a bribe, as president, to pardon a corporate big wig. Park is a felon, too; after being impeached, she was given a 22-year prison sentence for abusing her authority and accepting bribes while in office.Their pardons may have restored their legal and political rights, but that doesn’t erase their guilt.Koreans don’t have any grandiose expectations for the two — we don’t expect them to serve as high-minded doyens toiling for national unity, for example. All we ask is that they behave with a modicum of human decency befitting their status as pardoned individuals.The PPP is largely to blame for all this.As if pandering to groups who approve of disgraced former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s self-coup was not bad enough, the PPP is also reaching out to former presidents convicted of accepting bribes and peddling influence. Is the PPP prepared to face the consequences?What do we expect Korean youngsters to learn from seeing these two individuals acting as if they were innocent prisoners of conscience finally at liberty?The PPP may be desperate to drum up support, but we ask it to remember that there are some lines a political party should never cross.Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
