hankyoreh

By Lee Tae-hee, Staff writer　

Kim Kyung-joon, 46, the former chairman of the board at BBK, stated his intentions to testify at a parliamentary audit into allegations surrounding the investment counseling firm and prosecutors’ handling of them.

BBK was a private investment fund founded in 1999 by Kim Kyung-joon. President Lee Myung-bak is widely suspected of having used his influence to find investors for the fund and of being its true owner behind the scenes. Less than a year after its founding, BBK went bankrupt and many investors lost money. Allegations of embezzlement by Kim Kyung-joon and questions over President Lee’s involvement plagued him throughout the 2007 presidential campaign, in which he was victorious.

The allegations could again be an election issue, as South Korea’s National Assembly will hold a BBK audit ahead of the April 11 general election. This is the first time Kim has expressed plans to testify openly on the topic of BBK.

Kim, who is currently in prison, wrote a letter to independent lawmaker Yu Won-il on Feb. 22, which stated, “I hope that we can clear up the misunderstanding that I’m living high on the hog here thanks to some secret transaction with [President Lee Myung-bak].

"I do intend to appear as a witness in a parliamentary audit for the sake of prosecutorial reforms," Kim wrote in the letter.

As reason for the audit, Kim said that he had been threatened and pressured during his prosecutorial investigation and trial in 2007 and 2008, which led him to distort the facts. Kim also said the reason he reversed his previous claims about Lee’s ownership of BBK was because of "threats beyond imagination" following sentencing for the first BBK trial in 2008, specifically that his older sister, lawyer Erica Kim, and wife Lee Bo-ra would be extradited to South Korea.

Kim said he changed his claims because of "worries about my daughter," who would be left alone if his wife was extradited.

Kim also sent a Nov. 2007 letter to family members during his investigation by prosecutors in which he wrote of being unfairly intimidated. Prosecutors subsequently filed a 600 million won ($53,452 US) defamation lawsuit against the magazine SisaIN after it reported on Kim‘s allegations of misconduct by prosecutors. The suit was dismissed in a second trial last year.

Yu said Kim’s letter "restated things he said to me during a Feb. 20 visit, making it clear that he would appear at a parliamentary audit.

“I plan to discuss the matter with the Democratic United Party and rally forces so there can be a hearing under the 19th National Assembly,” Yu said.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office responded to Kim’s statement by calling it "apparently untrue". The office also said it would investigate Kim’s allegations, which appear to have a political intention aimed at affecting the outcome of April’s general election.

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