Rep. Koh pinpoints Speaker Park as bribe-giver; GNP leadership effectively demands Park’s resignation


The ruling Grand National Party braced for major fallout as a whistle-blower accused Rep. Park Hee-tae, former party chairman and current parliamentary speaker, of bribing fellow lawmakers in a prior leadership election.

The party’s interim decision-making body effectively demanded that Park resign but decided to retain the GNP name, dismissing calls for party disbandment.

Rep. Koh Seung-duk, who attended prosecutorial questioning for hours on Sunday, confirmed that the person who attempted to bribe him was the parliamentary speaker.

“The envelope contained the name card of Rep. Park Hee-tae,” he told reporters after questioning.

The lawyer-turned-lawmaker earlier disclosed that an aide to one of the party’s top members handed him an envelope with 3 million won ($2,600) shortly before a past chairmanship vote. Though Koh said he immediately returned the money, Park went on to win the chairmanship.

“The envelop came out of a large paper bag containing several identical envelopes,” he said. “I presume that the aide was assigned to visit a series of lawmakers, including me.”

Koh’s accusations came as a blow to the party as six-term lawmaker Park is not only the leader of the parliament but is also close to President Lee Myung-bak.

Park, however, denied the allegations and left the country early on Sunday for a 10-day trip to meet with parliamentary leaders from neighboring Asian countries.

The party’s emergency leadership council, led by presidential hopeful Rep. Park Geun-hye, struggled to quell the scandal ahead of the April general elections.

“We urge the prosecution to thoroughly investigate every detail concerning the bribery allegation and other conventions as well,” said Rep. Hwang Young-cheul, spokesperson of the council.

Rep. Cho Jeon-hyeok, another first-term lawmaker, claimed earlier that the leadership election in 2010 was also tarnished with attempted vote-buying.

“Though Rep. Park is currently not affiliated with any party, he was a member and leader of the GNP and should take responsibility for the actions he took back then,” said Rep. Hwang Young-cheul, spokesperson of the council.

This may be taken as a demand for Park’s resignation, he told reporters afterwards.

Amid escalating doubt and public disapproval, reform-inclined members such as Rep. Chung Doo-un once again said the GNP should be disbanded and a new party formed.

However, Park, the council leader, dismissed the option.

“We will make sure to clarify every doubt and make due apologies if necessary,” she said on Monday.

“We will not, however, stop our efforts to renew the party and I believe that this is the reason why I have been assigned to lead the emergency council.”

Observers speculated that the council instead may rule out pro-Lee Myung-bak figures from candidate nomination for the upcoming general elections in an attempt to sever its connections with the speaker.

Some expected that the GNP may mount a counterattack against the main opposition Democratic Unified Party, accusing it of similar internal election irregularities.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)