Morality Oaths

Chun presses his cleanup

Across South Korea last week, hundreds of rallies were taking place. Amid a forest of banners whipping in the wind, a din of fervent speeches and shouted slogans engulfed civic centers, factory grounds and rural town squares. The rallies culminated in long queues before folding tables as hundreds of thousands of citizens signed a uniform oath: "We hereby solemnly pledge that we shall neither offer personal favor nor accept requests for it."

The bizarre outpouring reminded some observers of the more hysterical manifestations of the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s. In reality it was the latest national morality campaign promulgated by South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan, the former general turned strongman who has been zealous about rooting out graft and creating what he calls a "clean and honest climate" in the country. At the start of his purification drive last summer, Chun ordered the dismissal of 8,000 government employees for corruption and inefficiency. He also accused ten prominent citizens, including an ex-Prime Minister, a former top intelligence officer and an army general, of amassing a total of $142 million through abuses of power, and forced them to donate their wealth to the state's public welfare fund. More recently he ordered a purge of the country's judiciary, with 37 sackings and a series of demotions and transfers.

The target of Chun's current and most ambitious crusade is what many Koreans call saba-saba, (or cheung tak). They refer to the endemic tissue of favoritism, cronyism and influence peddling that pervades the country's business and political life. Chun kicked off the drive at the opening of the newly elected National Assembly earlier this month, where he denounced politicians for "engaging in cunning maneuvers to curry favor with voters." He also made sure that members of his Cabinet, including Prime Minister Nam Duck Woo, were the first to take the patriotic pledge.

The Social Purification Commission, which is overseeing the antifavoritism campaign, has already held more than 12,000 rallies and confidently predicts that more than 1 million Koreans will have signed by the end of April. But many have doubts about the prospects for successfully legislating morality. Says Kim Hae Dong, a professor of government administration at Seoul National University: "To make the drive a success, the government must first build a society in which people can do business without seeking favoritism." Koreans, in fact, regard saba-saba as a ubiquitous national institution, as hard to do without as kimchi, the fiery pickled vegetables that spice their every meal.

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