Lee's Way Forward - Success out of Challenges

Lee was born in 1941 to a poor cattle farm laborer. He had to work to help support his destitute family as a student. In recalling the past, he said, "The chronic poverty that haunted my large family never disappeared until after I was in my 20s." Even though he put himself through Korea University by working as a street cleaner, he had never let go of hope.

Zemin of China and President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union. He also crisscrossed the world to build various magnificent structures, including the Penang Bridge in Malaysia and a thermal power plant in Iraq.

After entering politics in 1992 as a member of the National Assembly of the New Korea Party in the 14th National Assembly after wrapping up a 27-year career with the Hyundai Group. In 2002. Lee declared his candidacy for Seoul Mayor. He came from behind to win the election. The challenging spirit of Lee Myung-bak as a politician began to attract keen attention from the public. After the election, he vowed, "I will give Seoul a complete makeover."

Many people raised doubts about his ambitious restoration scheme for Cheonggyecheon, a stream which runs through Seoul. It used to be covered up with a road and overpass. Critics argued that uncovering and restoring the stream would cause traffic congestion and an environmental disaster as well as disruption to the adjacent business districts. The overhaul of the public transportation system was met with a similar response. However, the successful completion of the two projects astonished many people.

Mayor Lee not only helped transform the landscape of Seoul but also put great emphasis on budgetary savings, thus cutting spending by 800 billion won annually. Those savings were used to cut the debt incurred from the construction of the subway system by half. That debt has been a long-running headache for the city. In addition, he also succeeded in improving the efficiency of public administration based on IT solutions. The e-government system of the Seoul Metropolitan Government ranked first overall in the world for two consecutive years under his supervision.

In the presidential election on December 19, 2007, Lee garnered 48.7 percent of the total votes, approaching one half of total votes cast. He won 22.5 percent more votes than his closest competitor, Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party associated with the incumbent administration. During the campaign, Lee pledged to donate his entire assets to the state, except for his family residence. So the young man who came to Seoul long ago empty-handed is now about to be empty-handed as president but of his own volition this time around.

President Lee Myung-bak's Profile