Two remaining members of Park Geun-hye’s “doorknob triumvirate” arrested on bribery charges

Posted on : 2017-11-01 17:41 KST Modified on : 2017-11-01 17:41 KST
Lee Jae-man and Ahn Bong-geun allegedly took illegal payments from the NIS
Former Blue House Secretary Ahn Bong-geun arrives at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office following his arrest on bribery charges on Oct. 31 (by Shin So-young
Former Blue House Secretary Ahn Bong-geun arrives at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office following his arrest on bribery charges on Oct. 31 (by Shin So-young

Former Blue House secretaries Lee Jae-man and Ahn Bong-geun – two members of the group known as the “doorknob triumvirate” during the presidency of Park Geun-hye – were arrested on Oct. 31 on the charge of taking bribes from the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The third member, Jeong Ho-seong, was arrested in November of last year in connection with the Choi Soon-sil scandal.

The recent arrests show that the close ties between the NIS and the Blue House during the Park administration went beyond colluding on various illegal activities, including obstructing investigations by the prosecutors and creating a “blacklist” of figures in the arts and culture, and extended to using public funds to make private payments.

“More than 10 locations were raided, including the offices and residences of former secretaries Lee Jae-man and Ahn Bong-geun; former NIS directors Nam Jae-joon, Lee Byeong-kee and Lee Byung-ho; and former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Cho Yoon-sun,” said a spokesperson for the third special division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which is directed by Yang Seok-jo, on Oct. 31. The prosecutors acquired the related documents during the course of their recent investigation into the so-called whitelist (used to fund pro-government demonstrations by conservative organizations). Prosecutors have reportedly been aggressively pursuing the question of whether Lee Heon-su, who served as chief of strategy coordination at the NIS throughout Park’s presidency, misappropriated money from the agency’s special activity fund.

Of particular importance are reports that the prosecutors have learned that Lee Heon-su, who handled the NIS’s finances, delivered 100 million won (US$89,600) in cash to Lee Jae-man and Ahn Bong-geun every month from 2013 until 2016 and confirmed that the source of this money was the NIS’s special activity fund. Apparently, Lee Heon-su would stash 100 million won of 50,000 won notes in his car and secretly meet the two secretaries while at the Blue House or surrounding areas. The prosecutors have also reportedly confirmed that 5 million won (US$4,470) in cash from the special activity fund was delivered every month to Cho Yoon-sun, who served as Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs from June 2014 to May 2015. The prosecutors believe that the payments the NIS made to Blue House officials during the Park administration added up to more than 4 billion won (US$3.58 million).

“It’s bribery when public officials receive money on the job. In principle, the objective of an investigation into public servants receiving cash or goods is to show that this was bribery,” a member of the prosecutors said, expressing their confidence in the investigation. The implication is that since the Blue House officials charged with overseeing and supervising the NIS accepted money, they can be charged with bribery.

The prosecutors are also considering the option of charging Nam Jae-joon and two other former NIS directors, who they have determined gave this money to the Blue House secretaries, with additional charges of bribing officials and embezzlement of public funds under Article 5 of the Act on Aggravated Punishment for Special Crimes.

By Seo Young-ji and Kim Yang-jin, staff reporters

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

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)