hankyoreh

November 2011. At the time

By Son Won-je and Kim Tae-gyu, staff reporters

Prosecutors are investigating three former and current lawmakers for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from Solomon Savings Bank chairman Lim Suk.

The joint investigation team for savings bank corruption in the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office Central Investigations Division, headed by Choe Un-sik, is investigating allegations that former New Frontier Party (NFP) lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk, Democratic United Party (DUP) floor leader Park Jie-won (Mokpo, South Jeolla), and NFP lawmaker Chung Doo-un (Seodaemun-B, Seoul) for allegedly receiving the funds in the second half of 2007. Lim is currently being detained.

Prosecutors obtained testimony from Lim that he gave the money as “insurance” for his savings bank operations just before the presidential election that year. They plan to charge the three politicians with accepting bribes according to the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes.

Prosecutors believe Lee received hundreds of millions of won not only from Lim but also from Mirae Savings Bank chairman Kim Chan-kyung. Kim is also in detention.

Chung is believed by prosecutors to have received around 100 million won while Lim was delivering an amount several times greater to Lee. Park is suspected of taking roughly 100 million won from Lim around the same time.

Prosecutors also plan to charge Lee with violating the Political Fund Act for allegedly receiving 150 million won from the Kolon Group for “activity expenses” in four million won monthly payments over a recent three-year period.

“At the moment, it’s just the three politicians being investigated,” said an official with the prosecutors.

Park and Chung both denied taking any money. An official from Lee’s camp said, “I don’t know what’s behind the prosecutor’s investigation. We certainly plan to cooperate and respond to any requests for questioning.”

The three investigation targets are political heavyweights on both sides of the aisle. Lee Sang-deuk, the older brother of President Lee Myung-bak, is considered one of the most powerful political figures in the country.

Some analysts are suggesting the results of the investigation could have a big impact on December’s presidential election. As the DUP’s main mouthpiece, Park Jie-won has been on the attack against lawmaker Park Geun-hye, the NFP’s leading presidential contender. If the charges against him are substantiated, it would not only leave a big hole in the opposition party‘s front against the NFP in the lead up to the election, but also deal a major blow to its moral reputation.

The blow for the NFP could be substantial as well, since Chung is a key member of the party’s reform wing and has had a leading role in changing its image. But he is not a part of its dominant Park Geun-hye wing, which means the scandal stands to hurt the opposition more.

Members of the opposition claimed prosecutors leaked unsubstantiated charges against Park Jie-won in a politically motivated attempt to divert attention from the questioning of Lee.

Park himself said, “I think the prosecutors are squeezing me because I’ve been a nuisance to them, the Lee Myung-bak administration, and Park Geun-hye.”

An associate of his said noted that prosecutors had tried and failed numerous times in the past to implicate Park in corruption scandals involving Busan Savings Bank, Taekwang Industrial, Bohae, the C& Group, and Hanwha.

“They need to be held to account for leaking unsubstantiated allegations,” the associate said.

DUP supreme council member Woo Sang-ho said, “I denounce this investigation, which is an attempt to disgrace an opposition lawmaker.”

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