Wave Maker

In a poignant and dramatic demonstration of the vast cultural differences between America and Korea, it was announced today that South Korea's Prime Minister, Lee Hae Chan, was forced to resign for playing a round of golf.


From the Herald-Tribune, Asia-Pacific:

On March 1, a national holiday in South Korea, Lee went golfing with a group of businessmen, including at least one with a criminal record. Even on a holiday, his critics said, it was inappropriate for the prime minister to leave his office because the government was struggling with a railroad strike.

Can you imagine if every high-ranking elected official in America who had played golf on a holiday was forced to resign?

Bye Bye House Speaker Sal DiMasi (D., Ipswich C.C.). When enterprising reporters looked up Sal's handicap on the publicly accessible MGA handicap system, they found it was a svelt 5.7.

In partisan fairness, we'd have to have done without George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, both fond of the links on their time off.

It turns out that we Americans and the Koreans have more in common with golf than we might have thought:

Golf is widely popular in South Korea, an essential tool for upper- class socializing. The privileged spend vast amounts on lessons, greens fees and golf vacations. But golf also has a reputation as being a corrupt sport, so much so that government officials were once banned from playing it. Shady deals have often been discussed on the links and businesses reportedly pay greens fees for politicians and journalists.

Now no politician in America will ever be banned from the green carpet, but one thing I know politicians in the U.S. of A are adept at is accepting a free round of golf from...er... well-wishing supporters.

Lee's end came rather ignominiously:

[President] Roh accepted Lee's resignation, "taking into account various political considerations," said a presidential spokesman, Kim Man Soo.

That's the way the ball slices.