Lee Myung-bak, corruption, and 'Perfume of Korea'

The dark clouds of scandal are tracking the campaign trail of Lee Myung-bak, the Grand National Party's candidate for the Blue House in South Korea. The South Korean parlement have opened up again the investigation of Mr Lee for corruption, which he thought the courts had put behind him, washing him of his past sins.
Although the polls of the leading South Korean dailies put the ex mayor of Seoul and former CEO of the Hyundai Group well ahead of this rivals in the race for the presidency, Lee's handlers recognised that the odour of scandal stuck to him. They came up with a novel idea to mask the smell of corruption attached to his name by spraying what they call the 'Perfume of Korea', a pleasant scent which would remind voters of the good qualities of the man who may become the Republic of Korea's next president.
This self promotion shows that Lee, a practioneer of corporate patronage and croneyism, has trouble casting off his old persona. It also demonstrates the unreliability of polls, for it is one thing to say, 'yes, I'm going to cast my ballot for Mr. Lee on election day', and another to whisper low 'In the voting booth, I'm going to vote my conscience'. As election day comes near, the election race will tighten and polls numbers will soften.
Even if Lee is elected president, the hound of corruption and malfeasance will track his every steps. Which will make him a weak chief executive.
Lee is very pro business, which is not a problem in itself. His programme favours the construction industry which is something he knows very much about. He was after all president of Hyundai's construction arm which went belly up in 1998. He is less interested in reform than in promoting the chaebols and the government patronage and kick backs and shady deals to give the South Korean economy a shot of steroids to double GDP and household income. Whatever he does, he will have to fight tooth and nail to save his tarnished reputation and won't be able to reward his friends in high places.
His boasts of talking the talk, walking the walk with Pyongyang will not wash. Even North Korea knows that Lee's talk is worse than his bite, and that he will be a weak leaf in inter Korean relations.