Is 잘 부탁합니다 a ridiculous translation of a Japanese expression?

ANSWER: Yes, according to author and former Korean language teacher Mr. Lee Su-yeol (이수열), who has also contributed regularly to Korean newspapers.

I have received pushback from some Koreans and others about an article I posted in 2009 entitled "Do you think 잘 부탁합니다 is silly, too?," so I decided to translate the Korean newspaper article from which I got my information. Actually, it is a similar but different article since the original article I had used has apparently been deleted. This article appeared in the October 10, 2002 edition of the online version of the Korean newspaper 한겨레 and was written by Mr. Lee Su-yeol (이수열), who is an author, regular newspaper contributor, and a former teacher, who taught the Korean language for 47 years to Korean elementary, middle school, and high school students. You can find the article HERE, but I have copied the relevant portion of the article below with my translation. I have also included a Chosun Ilbo (조선일보) Media video report on Mr. Lee, who is now 90 years old:
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잘 부탁합니다 is a ridiculous translation of the Japanese expression “よろ(宜)しくねが(願)います,” which the Japanese use to request someone to deal appropriately with a certain issue. 

“よろ(宜)しく” is an adverb meaning appropriately (적당히/적절히). The underlying intention of this part of the expression is to limit/restrict the actions of the person receiving the request. It has been translated as “잘,” so when someone says “잘 부탁한다,” the speaker ends up ridiculously praising himself with “I’m good at asking for favors.”

Therefore, correct it by using “부디 잘 돌보아 주십시오” ("Please take good care of me") or “아무쪼록 잘 이끌어 주십시오” ("As much as you can, please guide me well"). If you do not do this, then it will sound like a request from a corrupt businessperson seeking unfair advantages from authorities at such places as administrative offices or the National Assembly, which would be extremely disgusting.   

“잘 부탁합니다”는 일본사람들이 무슨 일을 적절하게 처리해 주기를 당부하는 뜻으로 쓰는 말 ‘よろ(宜)しくねが(願)います’를 엉터리로 옮긴 것이다.

‘よろ(宜)しく’는 ‘적당히, 적절히’를 뜻하는 어찌씨로, 그 속뜻이 자신의 당부를 받은 사람의 행동을 한정하는 월조각인데, 그것을 ‘잘’로 옮겨서 ‘잘 부탁한다’고 하면, 말하는 사람 자신이 부탁을 잘한다는 칭찬이 되어서 우스꽝스럽다.

그러므로 ‘부디 잘 돌보아 주십시오, 아무쪼록 잘 이끌어 주십시오’라고 고쳐 써야 한다. 그렇게 하지 않으면 부당한 이득을 노리는 악덕 기업인이 이권에 관계 있는 업무를 맡은 행정부서나 국회 등에서 청탁, 로비활동을 할 때나 씀직해서 아주 메스껍다.