President’s elder brother subject of corruption investigation

Posted on : 2012-05-05 12:56 KST Modified on : 2012-05-05 12:56 KST
Lee Sang-deuk is the latest in long line of springtime scandals

By Yeo Hyeon-ho, senior staff writer

When something happens repeatedly, it becomes easy to predict its next recurrence. In Korean politics, corruption among the confidants and relations of the president is such a thing.

Most cases of corruption have come to light in spring. In May 1997, then-president Kim Young-sam’s second son, Hyun-chul, was sent to prison; five years later, in June, then-president Kim Dae-jung’s second son, Hong-up, was sent down too. Both men were accused of taking bribes in exchange for leveraging influence, in violation of the Additional Punishment Law on Specific Crimes. Each of them openly played the role of a “big shot,” becoming universally known as such, for several years. The fact that they were only punished at the end of their respective presidents’ terms in office is probably due, among other things, to the fact that these were “twilight periods” for those in power. The clock of power has ticked heartlessly for all influential figures whenever a December presidential election has approached.

Following the arrest of former Korea Communications Commission Chairman Choi See-joong, an influential figure in the Lee Myung-bak government, a decision on whether to arrest Park Young-joon, a former official in the Prime Minister’s Office and another of Lee Myung-bak’s confidants, is due to be taken on Monday. Choi and Park, too, have been suspected for several years of abuse of authority and corruption, but nothing much came of it. As recently as two months ago, prosecutors‘ investigations of the two men were moving at a snail’s pace. Their arrests have occurred all of a sudden. Faced with his arrest warrant, Choi appeared dumbstruck, saying, “Something’s really wrong here.” The two men’s sense of the transience and volatility of power has probably been sharpened.

Public attention is now turning to the question of who is next in line. There is no need to beat around the bush: it is Lee Sang-deuk, New Frontier Party lawmaker and older brother of the president.

Several new suspicions have emerged in the course of the investigation into the so-called “Pi City” bribery scandal. A look at the process by which the site of a former freight terminal had its designated use altered to allow the construction of a complex of shops and offices, and by which the architectural design review passed the plans, reveals more than a few cases where a blind eye appears to have deliberately been turned. Among the individuals involved in overseeing the project are then-Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak and several of his confidants. Park is also said to have laundered and kept dirty money through a businessman from the Pohang area. The same old chain of corruption is suspected here, too: such personal connections would not have been possible without the hand of Lee Sang-deuk, the strongest single figure in the Pohang region.

Prosecutors are now at a crossroads. They must decide whether, after Park, to head on up “the next hill.” Top prosecutors appear negative on this. Despite saying that they will, of course, investigate any further leads that emerge, their stance is that such leads are currently insufficient. They have also said that they will end the Pi City investigation some time next week. In other words, no other big shots will feature in this investigation. Seen from the outside, this could appear as the same reluctance to upset those in power, and the same controlling of pace, that we have seen up to now.

Still, it does not seem that prosecutors will simply come to a standstill at this point. Lee Sang-deuk is among the objects of an investigation by a joint team for savings bank corruption investigation within the Supreme Prosecutors‘ Office into the suspected taking of 400 million won along with requests for help from savings banks that had had their operations suspended. An investigation into the source of 700 million won found in a wardrobe in Lee’s home, too, has been handed over to the joint investigation team. Prosecutors have been leaving these investigations untouched for the last two months. Now, the tangible atmosphere within the Prosecution Service is that it is time to look into them. The investigation of Lee Sang-deuk may resume as early as the second half of next week.

Barely a fortnight after the April 11 general election, the Pi City investigation is heading toward its climax. What has changed since the election is the confirmation of Park Geun-hye as the face of future power. Accordingly, the grip enjoyed by outgoing powers on prosecutors is weakening. Even without this change, the current top prosecutors were suspected of being essentially limited when it came to investigating core power figures because of fellow university alumni of the president and ties to the BBK investigation. The abrupt downfall of those currently in power presents an opportunity for the Prosecution Service to cast off these shackles. In circumstances where it is obliged to consider its future prospects ahead of potential reforms, too, it will have needed to distance itself from the past and laid grounds for its future.

It appears, for now, that the prosecutors’ investigation into corruption among the president’s confidants will end before July. There are concerns that, if dragged on any longer, it may affect the presidential election. There is also a practical reason: the Prosecution Service is facing large-scale personnel reappointments in July. It is customary for most investigations to be wrapped up before such reshuffles. How fast will the prosecutors‘ clock turn until then?

 

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

 

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