The truth about allegations regarding a plot of land in Seoul’s Naegok neighborhood purportedly intended as a residence for President Lee Myung-bak is coming into focus. In an interview with the press, former Presidential Security Service head Kim In-jong, who stepped down over the controversy, opened up about the site selection process and the source of the money for its purchase.

Kim’s account differs considerably from the explanation given to date by the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) and ruling Grand National Party (GNP), who have claimed that president Lee was not involved in the purchase. According to Kim, the president received a recommendation for the Naegok site out of twelve candidate sites reviewed by the PSS, visited the site himself to look around, and approved it as a site for the residence. He also used his own money to purchase it, in addition to having his son Lee Si-hyung appear as purchaser through the suggestion of the PSS, Kim said.

If Kim’s account is true, the president was the one spearheading the entire purchase process. In a word, he is the “big fish” behind all the allegations over the Naegok plot. In saying that the president intended to use the house for himself and invested his own money in it, Kim essentially confirmed that the purchase of the plot in Lee Si-hyeong’s name constituted fictitious third-party registration, a violation of the Act on the Registration of Real Estate under the Actual Titleholder’s Name.

Nevertheless, the Cheong Wa Dae, far from giving a precise account of this, is simply engaging in evasive tactics as it waits for public attention to recede. A Cheong Wa Dae official was dismissive of Kim’s account, calling it “nothing new.”

Nothing has changed at all from the Oct. 17 senior secretaries’ meeting where the president said, “I feel it very unfortunate that I unwittingly caused many people concern.”

The Cheong Wa Dae shows no awareness whatsoever of the seriousness of the Naegok allegations. The president himself has come into focus as the central figure in the allegations, and South Koreans are feeling an even greater sense of betrayal about the way the accounts to date have been shown contrary to the facts. The Democratic Party is calling for a thorough investigation by prosecutors and announcing plans to hold a parliamentary audit, while Democratic Labor Party Chairwoman Lee Jung-hee says she has prepared a bill of indictment against the president, arguing that he should be subject to criminal prosecution after his term expires. The Cheong Wa Dae has nothing left to hide and nowhere to hide it. The only course of action for the president is to state the details of the purchase process himself, apologizing and assuming responsibility where each are due. If he fails to seize what may well be his last chance, his ethical reputation is set to plunge off the cliff and embed itself in the dirt.

　　

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