» Current National Tax Service head Baek Yong-ho answers questions from lawmakers at the National Assembly, Nov. 27.

Details are coming to light about intensive pressure tactics applied by the National Tax Service (NTS) and other authorities on Ahn Won-ku, a senior director of the NTS. The source is a document reportedly obtained by Ahn, who was the NTS Daegu regional office director in 2007, during a tax audit of Posco Engineering and Construction. Ahn is claiming that the document contains proof that President Lee Myung-bak is the true owner of land in Seoul's Dogok neighborhood that was the subject of controversy throughout his presidential campaign. According to Ahn, this is the reason behind the increased pressure upon him from authorities.

In a document released Friday, Ahn wrote, “In a meeting around late May of this year with Ahn Dong-beom, who was then head of the NTS inspection division, I was pressured to resign.” Ahn continued, “He told me that I must, since I was classified within the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) as someone who has been checking up on the president.”

After that, the NTS began acting more quickly. It is known that they dispatched their inspection team head to Daegu to investigate with people there, including Jang Seung-u, then-director of the Daegu office’s first investigation division, who was in charge of the Posco Engineering and Construction audit. Ahn recalled, “A short time after that, Ahn Dong-beom told me, ‘They confirmed that everything you claimed is true, and NTS Acting head Hur Byung-ik has reported it to the civil affairs department at the Cheong Wa Dae.’” Ahn also indicated that the NTS and National Intelligence Service (NIS) subsequently changed tactics to start a coverup. Ahn said, “On Sept. 24, I met with Jang Seung-u, who was in Seoul for business, and he said that Ahn, head of the NTS inspection division had asked whether Jang confirm that there were no documents related to the land in Dogok.”

In response, Ahn Dong-beom said, “I do not recall the exact date, but at one meeting with Mr. Ahn, he did talk about the Dogok land and said that he was someone who helped launch the Lee administration but that he was being misunderstood.” Ahn Dong-beom added, “It is true that NTS had made inspection about that allegation.” He also said, however, when the inquiry revealed that the allegations about the Dogok land ownership were not true, the matter was not further investigated.

Ahn Dong-beom also dismissed Ahn’s claims that then acting head of NTS, Hur Byung-ik reported details to the Cheong Wa Dae. Ahn Dong-beom said, “At the time, Hur had little possibility of being next head of NTS, and the chain of command was unclear, thus there was no report on that issue to Cheong Wa Dae.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]