Uri Party Member Lee Summoned Over Hanwha Money


By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker Suh Chung-won, who led the GNP’s presidential campaign in 2002, took 1 billion won in bonds from Hanwha Group and gave it to his son-in-law just before the election, prosecutors alleged on Monday.

Suh, former chairman of the opposition GNP, appears to have accepted the bonds directly from Hanwha chairman Kim Seung-youn at a Seoul hotel and gave it to his son-in-law to help his business, the prosecutors said.

The reason why Kim gave the amount to the lawmaker is not yet clear. Investigators have been tracing the bonds, keeping in mind the possibility that Suh misappropriated the money after taking it as part of corporate donations for his party, sources said.

Another GNP lawmaker Park Sang-kyu and Rep. Park Byung-yoon of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) will be called in for questioning on Thursday, prosecutors said, without detailing their suspicions. Sources said they are likely to face embezzlement charges.

Prosecutors said just before midnight that they requested a court warrant for the arrest of Rep. Suh. Some prosecutors said they have a tip that the bonds were converted into cash around March last year before being used by the Suh family. But prosecutors didn’t rule out the possibility that the money was used for GNP’s election campaigns after being laundered by Suh’s son-in-law.

The allegations came after the prosecution brought in the GNP lawmaker for questioning in the morning, as part of a wide-reaching investigation into politicians who took illegal campaign donations in 2002, or misappropriated the donations for private purposes.

As Suh was arriving at the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office for questioning, the five-term lawmaker alleged political motivation was behind his summon, referring to himself as ``a general that had lost a crucial battle.’’

``This is one of the hardships that lie ahead before a losing general,’’ the journalist-turned-lawmaker told reporters. He refused to confirm or deny the accusations against him but his aides said he remains firm that the money he took from Hanwha wasn’t an illegal donation.

Prosecutors said he took the money from Hanwha about two months before the presidential election when then-GNP standard-bearer Lee Hoi-chang ran high above other candidates, including Roh Moo-hyun. The prosecution said the 1 billion won is not related to the 4 billion won the conglomerate separately donated to the opposition party through Suh’s fellow lawmakers, Kim Young-iel and Choi Don-woong.

The questioning came as opposition parties are joining forces to jumpstart an Assembly hearing for this and other cases despite fierce opposition that the move could negatively affect the ongoing probes. Prosecutors have raised the speculation that such an action by opposition parties is nothing more than a move to keep their misconduct under wraps and to raise their stakes before the forthcoming general elections on April 15.

``Suh’s case is very serious, like those of other lawmakers facing summons this week and next week,’’ prosecutor Ahn Dai-hee, who is leading the probe, said, indicating the prosecution would take steps to take the lawmakers into custody following the questioning.

Evidence collected during recent raids on Hanwha’s key offices and searches on the party’s banking records did not show where the money was spent, prosecution sources said.

Former Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) lawmaker Lee Jae-joung was also summoned for the second time over allegations that he took 1 billion won in illegal donations from Hanwha. Lee is now an official of the Uri Party.

The prosecution plans to summon Rep. Lee Sang-soo of the Uri Party today for allegedly masterminding an illegal fundraising for the MDP during the presidential election. He moved to the Uri Party in October last year when a dozen lawmakers bolted from the MDP to found the Uri Party.

GNP lawmaker Shin Kyung-shik, a key aide to former GNP presidential candidate Lee, will also be brought in tomorrow for allegedly accepting 1 billion won from the Lotte Group during the final days of the presidential campaigns. The money was supposed to be delivered to the GNP, but the lawmaker allegedly appropriated it, prosecutors said.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr