DAVID S.

LEE
INGRID PIPER HK1125

BRINGING DOWN THE PRESIDENT: DO

RESULTS JUSTIFY THE MEANS?
Standing in an empty office, journalist Shim Su mi’s heart raced as she scanned files on the
tablet computer in front of her. The JTBC cable TV reporter’s anxiety increased as she read
each file. She worried that at any minute she might be discovered in the recently vacated office
previously used by Choi Soon sil, the powerful friend and ally of South Korean President Park
Geun hye.

It wasn’t Shim’s first visit to the abandoned office in Seoul. While exploring there a few days
earlier, she claimed to have found an abandoned tablet. She subsequently returned with her own
power pack, and discovered that its owner was Choi. As she read, Shim realized the files
contained material that had the potential to have enormous national and political ramifications.
Instead of returning the tablet to Choi, its rightful owner, or to the authorities, Shim made a
fateful decision. It was a decision that would eventually bring down the South Korean president
and shake the very core of the nation’s democratic process.

Setting the Scene for Public Outrage

As an experienced broadcast journalist at the South Korean cable television network JTBC,
Shim knew her decision to copy the information contained on the tablet that belonged to
President Park’s confidant would be of interest to her network. Since the information was of
national importance, perhaps her superiors would overlook the way she had obtained this
information, as the network was known to be critical of South Korea’s democratically elected
conservative government.

Park, a career politician and the nation’s first female president, was in the latter part of her five-
year fixed term. The Korean constitution meant she could not stand for re-election,1 and her
party had yet to select her successor. What was worrying was that public opinion had turned
against the 64-year-old, and her popularity had declined.
1 Y. Lee, “The Deeper Meaning of South Korea’s Constitutional Debate,” The Diplomat, 21 March 2018,
https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/the-deeper-meaning-of-south-koreas-constitutional-debate/, accessed 16 April 2018.

Ingrid Piper prepared this case under the supervision of David S. Lee solely for the purpose of class discussion. The case describes
real events and was written relying entirely on published sources. Therefore, the perspectives offered in the case do not necessarily
represent the opinions or viewpoints of any individuals or organizations that may appear in the case. The case is not intended to
show effective or ineffective handling of decision or business processes. Cases are written in the past tense, this is not meant to
imply that all practices, organizations, people, places or fact mentioned in the case no longer occur, exist or apply.

© 2018 by The Asia Case Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong. No part of this publication may be digitized, photocopied
or otherwise reproduced, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means without the permission of The University of Hong
Kong.
Ref. 18/610C

Last edited: 22 June 2018

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 18/610C Bringing Down the President: Do Results Justify the Means?

Park’s early life had been one of family tragedy. Her father, former President Park Chung hee
had been assassinated in 1979. Her mother, Yuk Young soo, was also killed in an earlier attempt
on her father’s life. Both murders were politically motivated. Park herself survived a knife
attack in 2006.

Choi and Park had known each other for decades. The South Korean public had become
concerned about their long-standing friendship, especially as rumors circulated that Choi, who
held no government office, had influenced Park’s decisions and national policy, as well as used
her friendship with the president for personal gain, for herself and for her daughter.

There was also increasing suspicion that Choi had pressured some of the nation’s most powerful
companies, known as chaebols, for bribes in return for favors from Park.

A Moral Dilemma
Having read the files downloaded from Choi’s tablet, Shim had proof that Choi had direct
access to presidential documents and those related to South Korea’s political process. Instead
of returning the tablet to its rightful owner or immediately giving it to authorities, however,
Shim shared the potentially explosive material with her network first.

As she held the proof of political and criminal wrongdoing in her hands, had Shim considered
any other actions? After all, she had entered a vacant office, accessed and removed another
person’s property, and downloaded private files. In other words, she had stolen files for her
cable television network. It was reasonable to believe she had no knowledge of the full impact
of the material she saw in those files, and if so, her actions might be construed as an ambitious
attempt to get ahead in her profession.2

As in many other countries, journalists in South Korea were held accountable for their actions
by a set of ethics and standards. As experienced reporters, Shim and her JTBC colleagues were
likely aware of the South Korean code of conduct:

Journalists should not examine or retrieve personally owned information

stored in electronic devices, such as computers, without permission from the
owners or managers of the devices . . . or take such properties as documents,
data, electronically stored information, photos, and other video materials
without obtaining permission from their rightful owners or
caretakers. Exceptions can be made in cases where there is an overriding
public interest at stake and there is no other way of collecting the information.
- Korean Newspaper Association3

Ultimately, JTBC decided that the information gathered by Shim was of overriding public
interest, and therefore, reporting this information was within the relevant journalistic code of
conduct. JTBC broke the story first before it handed over the tablet to South Korean
investigators, which allowed JTBC to avoid political interference in reporting the story. Perhaps
JTBC considered that its actions served a greater good by informing the South Korean public
that Choi had indeed manipulated the president and had also influenced national policy and
chaebols for personal gain.

2
Moon Byung Joo and E. Chung, “JTBC refutes rumours about how its reporter discovered Choi’s Tablet,” Korea Joongang
Daily, 10 December 2016, http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3027236, accessed 1 April 2018.
3 The Code of Press Ethics, https://accountablejournalism.org/ethics-codes/South-Korea-Press, accessed 16 April 2018.

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 18/610C Bringing Down the President: Do Results Justify the Means?

As rumors grew about how Shim obtained the files, JTBC’s news executives released a
surprising statement through newsroom anchor Sohn Suk hee. It explained their version of how
Shim had acquired the files. The announcement could also have been construed as an attempt
to draw attention away from the source of the files, or the person or persons who had tipped off
the reporter about a tablet supposedly abandoned in an empty office, or it could have been the
network’s attempt to protect the reporter and even to defend the cable network’s reporting of a
scandal that gained international attention overnight.

JTBC reporters searched one of the offices that used to belong to Choi Soon
sil, and in one of them we found her tablet among things Choi left behind. The
office was on sale for two months, and real estate agents could enter freely. So
the reporter entered an office that was not owned by anyone at the time.
- JTBC Newsroom anchor Sohn Suk hee4

An Outpouring of Public Outrage

The day after Shim’s story aired, President Park issued a public apology and attempted to
downplay Shim’s evidence. She admitted that Choi had advised her about speeches during her
election campaign and had continued to do so when she first took office.5

But footage released by another network, TV Chosun, that showed Choi directing presidential
staff regarding the president’s wardrobe, highlighted just how close she was to Park.6 This very
personal detail, on top of the revelations that Choi had advised the president about dozens of
speeches and even influenced sensitive national policy, without holding any official
government position or qualifications, caused outrage.

As the year drew to a close, public anger aimed at the nation’s leader grew, compounded by a
series of economic scandals that included Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphone recall, the
collapse of the Hanjin Shipping Company, and the indictment of the head of the Lotte Group
for embezzlement.7

In a matter of days, South Korean prosecutors laid charges on Choi and arrested two of Park’s
presidential aides. Accusations against Choi outlined how she had used her friendship with Park
to encourage some of the nation’s biggest companies to donate money to her nonprofit
foundations in exchange for positive government support.8 Park’s approval rating dropped to
approximately 26%,9 and public protests gained momentum.

For 17 weeks after JTBC’s story aired, weekly protests swelled. At their height, more than two
million protestors gathered nationwide on a single day. 10 These peaceful rallies were often
family affairs and even candlelight vigils. Ordinary citizens joined together to demonstrate

4 Moon & Chung, “JTBC refutes rumours about how its reporter discovered Choi’s Tablet.”
5 “Park Geun hye and the friendship behind S Korea’s presidential crisis,” BBC News, 31 October 2016,
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37820112, accessed 18 April 2018.
6 “Gift Horse: Influence Peddling in South Korea,” The Economist, 29 October 2016,

https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21709340-allegations-about-conduct-friend-president-prompt-outrage-gift-horse,
accessed 18 April 2018.
7 J. Lee, K. Kong, and N. Khan, “Presidential Scandal Distracts Korea From Economic Scandals,” Bloomberg News, 2

November 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-01/presidential-scandal-distracts-korea-from-its-

economic-scandals, accessed 17 April 2018.
8
“Park Geun hye: South Korea’s first female president” BBC News, 6 April 2018, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-
20787271, accessed 18 April 2018.
9 “Gift Horse: Influence Peddling in South Korea,” The Economist.
10
“2016 South Korea protests,” YouTube, 11 December 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYYuDFor5Ns, accessed 18
April 2016.

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 18/610C Bringing Down the President: Do Results Justify the Means?

against the nation’s economic problems, the presidential scandal, and Choi’s political and
financial influence, which even included her daughter’s preferential treatment by one of the
nation’s elite universities in a country where university entrance was highly contested and
prized.

The scandal surrounding Park devastated her party, the conservative Saenuri Party. Stymied by
Park’s public disapproval, her poor handling of economic problems, and the Choi scandal,
Saenuri Party officials knew their candidate, when selected, was unlikely to win the next
presidential election. With the loss of Park, they also faced a loss of political power.

Ever since the nation had emerged as a full democracy in 1998, South Korean presidents had
not fared well or escaped being tainted by corruption scandals. Since 1980, four presidents had
been jailed for bribery and corruption. When parliament voted to impeach Park, the nation’s
first female president was yet another elected official who had failed to live up to voters’
expectations.

The Net Widens

As a result of investigations into Choi’s activities and her subsequent trial, investigators
widened their inquiries. One of South Korea’s wealthiest and powerful family-run companies,
known locally as chaebols, was drawn into the affair. Lee Jae yong, the young head of
electronics giant Samsung, South Korea’s most valuable company 11 and one of its most
influential chaebols, was investigated. The Samsung heir and company vice president was
accused of having donated USD36mn to charitable foundations run by Choi, a transaction that,
prosecutors alleged, was made in return for government approval of a major restructuring of
Samsung. 12 At that time, this massive company was responsible for 20% of the nation’s
exports,13 and its subsidiaries included construction, engineering, shipbuilding, insurance, and
finance, as well as electrical appliances.

In the same month that Choi’s trial began and just two months after Shim first took the
abandoned tablet, the South Korean parliament voted to impeach its president.

In the weeks that followed her impeachment, Park refused to appear at any of the 17
Constitutional Court hearings and continued to deny she had acted unlawfully. Three months
later, Constitutional Court justices ruled the impeachment was lawful. Under South Korean law,
while Park remained in office, she could not be charged with any offenses. However, once she
was removed from office, that immunity lapsed. South Korean prosecutors continued their
investigations and waited for their opportunity. Seven months after JTBC’s story aired, the
former South Korean president went on trial.

Fall from Grace

Eighteen months after Shim found the fateful tablet, former president Park was sentenced to 24
years in jail. The disgraced politician was found guilty of corruption, as well as bribery worth
millions of dollars, and of sharing state secrets. As her trial judge stated:

11
J. McKenna, “South Korea and Sweden are the most innovative countries in the world,” World Economic Forum, 6 February
2018, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/south-korea-and-sweden-are-the-most-innovative-countries-in-the-world/,
accessed 18 April 2018.
12
“Samsung chief Lee Jae Yong on trial for bribery,” BBC News, 9 March 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39214545
(accessed 18 April 2018).
13
C. Tejada, “Money, Power, Family: Inside South Korea’s Chaebols,” New York Times, 17 February 2017,
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/business/south-korea-chaebol-samsung.html, accessed 18 April 2018.

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 18/610C Bringing Down the President: Do Results Justify the Means?

The accused abused the power bestowed by the people—the true ruler of this
country—to cause chaos in national administration.
- Judge Kim Se yoon14

Park’s long-standing friend and confident Choi Soon sil, who, investigations revealed, had
wielded great power and influence over the president, government officials, and South Korea’s
business leaders, received a 20-year jail sentence. She was found guilty of bribery and abuse of
power, as well as receiving USD13mn from Samsung and retailer Lotte.

For his part in the affair, Samsung’s heir, Lee Jae yong, received a five-year sentence for
embezzlement, bribery, and perjury.15 He was later released from jail on appeal, after having
served less than a year of his five-year sentence.

One year after Park was brought down, her predecessor in the Blue House, the nation’s official
presidential residence, the former South Korean president Lee Myung bak, was also arrested
on corruption charges involving bribery, embezzlement, and tax evasion.16

Lee’s supporters had different ideas about this arrest. They believed his arrest was politically
motivated in retaliation for the death of former president Roh Moo hyun, a close associate of
Park’s replacement, President Moon Jae in.17 Moon had at one time been Roh’s chief of staff.18
Roh committed suicide when prosecutors investigated members of his family when Lee became
president.

A former human rights lawyer, Moon Jae in was a popular choice for president. Just one month
after taking over Park’s role, his approval rating reached 75%,19 buoyed by his open style of
government, popularist persona, and reformist proposals. These included targeting the nation’s
powerful chaebols and constitutional changes that reduced the power of future presidents and
their influence over the nation’s courts.

The Final Chapter

Who would have thought Shim’s theft from a vacant office would reveal secret files with the
power to bring down a president? Or that those files would uncover a tangled net of bribery and
corruption in South Korea’s highest echelons whose tentacles reached even as far as its foreign
policy? How could Shim have had any idea that her part in uncovering these revelations would
bring millions of outraged citizens onto the streets to rally against their nation’s leaders or that
her story would eventually reveal the bribery and corruption connecting the president and her

14
“South Korea’s former president Park Geun-hye jailed for 24 years for abuse of power, bribery and coercion,” South China
Morning Post, 6 April 2018, http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2140566/south-koreas-former-president-park-
geun-hye-convicted-abuse, accessed 18 April 2018.
15 A. Fifield, “Samsung heir released from prison on appeal against bribery conviction,” Washington Post, 5 February 2018,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/samsung-heir-released-from-prison-after-appeal-against-bribery-
conviction/2018/02/05/77e7b02e-0a41-11e8-baf5-e629fc1cd21e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.641fd9428303,
accessed 18 April 2018.
16 C. Dwyer, “Former South Korean President Lee Myung Bak Is Arrested On Graft Charges,” NPR, 22 March 2018,

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/22/596046633/former-south-korean-president-lee-myung-bak-is-arrested-
on-graft-charges, accessed 18 April 2018.
17 “Another former South Korean leader charged with corruption,” AP, 9 April 2018,

https://www.apnews.com/b2b6e8c214124405963bc35cce8ccc13, accessed 18 April 2018.

18 D. S. Lee, “Strong leader needed as South Korea waits at crossroads,” Nikkei Asian Review, 1 February 2017,

https://asia.nikkei.com/Viewpoints/David-S.-Lee/Strong-leader-needed-as-South-Korea-waits-at-crossroads, accessed 18 April

2018.
19 J. Palmer, “Moon Jae in: for trying to rebuild decent democratic leadership in South Korea,” Foreign Policy, 2017

https://gt.foreignpolicy.com/2017/profile/moon-jae-in?c0244ec121=, accessed 18 April 2018.

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 18/610C Bringing Down the President: Do Results Justify the Means?

close associates and shine a spotlight on the nation’s dubious connection between government
and big business?

But what exactly was Shim’s real motive when she read those files? Had Shim considered
whether the material on those files had in any way been doctored? Could her one small crime,
the theft of the files for the greater good, be morally justified? In taking the files, had she acted
on behalf of the media and the public’s right to know or were her actions theft?

Were Shim’s actions based on ambition, rather than the greater good of South Korea? Is it
possible to do something that is morally ambiguous, even if you don’t know at the time that it’s
for the greater good? Or was Shim simply a pawn in a much larger political game to bring down
the president?

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