hankyoreh

Prime Minister-designate Kim Tae-ho lied during confirmation hearings at the National Assembly. As recently as two days ago, he stated several times that the first time he had met former Taekwang Industrial Chairman Park Yeon-cha, mired in convictions of illegal government lobbying, was in 2007. In 2006, he said he had never met the man before.

Only when evidence was presented at his confirmation hearing two days ago that he had played golf with Park in October 2006 did he change his story and admit the truth. He fudged that he did not know the date of their meeting was that important, but this is a ridiculous justification. If he lied about these allegations, it can only be viewed as an attempt to conceal some misdeed.

Lying is a fatal flaw in a public official. They corrode trust in the foundation of the government and state. If the people do not believe them, nothing can take place properly, whether it is policy execution or anything other matter. If the Lee Myung-bak administration insists on having a liar as prime minister, it is an admission that it plans not to work hard, but to hold out against the people. This is why the nomination for prime minister should be immediately rescinded.

Kim’s lie is also a major problem in legal terms. When he hedged about the date of their meeting and claimed that he did not have a close relationship with Park, Kim was likely trying to refute charges that he received tens of thousands of dollars from Park in April 2007. That claim has become even more difficult to believe as a result of this lie. There is also a chance that more lies are to follow.

Kim said that he visited Vietnam’s Dong Nai Province, where Park has a shoe factory, in June and August of 2006, but that he never met with Park. However, it is difficult to believe that a governor of South Gyeongsang Province on such a visit would not have met with a leading Korean businessman from the same province who had ventured into the Vietnamese market. In addition, there are also a host of other suspicions.

In spite of this, the prosecutors dropped charges against Kim late last year. Given that they reportedly made their decision after a single telephone conversation with an employee at a Korean-run restaurant in New York who was said to have given the money to Kim, there was essentially no proper investigation at all. The fact that they failed to verify the witness’s whereabouts calls into question their intention to investigate the matter.

This stands in stark contrast with the strong approach prosecutors took in investigating former Democratic Party (DP) Lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae, who visited Vietnam around the same time in August 2006. It was revealed at the hearing that Kim was never questioned by prosecutors on his Vietnam visit or golf date. This can only be interpreted as the prosecutors’ will to “look the other way.”

The prosecutors should immediately reopen their investigation of Kim on charges of accepting a bribe. They should also explain why they abandoned an investigation despite uncovering information worthy of suspicion and subsequent investigation. It also goes without saying that the target of this investigation, Kim Tae-ho, cannot become this country’s prime minister.
　　
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]