The confrontation between professor Ahn Cheol-soo and the ruling Saenuri Party is getting more personal following accusations made by his close ally against a party official.

Questions are now arising about the relationship between Geum Tae-seop, a lawyer working with Ahn, and his friend Jeong Joon-gil, a former prosecutor and now member of Saenuri’s communications team.

Geum claimed on Thursday that Jeong had threatened him in a phone call to disclose “bribery and woman problems” surrounding Ahn if he runs in the presidential election.

But Jeong later dismissed the claim, saying that it was not a threat, but communication between “old friends.”

Geum and Jeong have reportedly known each other for more than 20 years. The two both entered the Department of Law at Seoul National University in 1986.

Geum started to work as a prosecutor after passing the state bar exam in 1992. Jeong passed the judicial examination in 1993 and worked in prosecutors’ offices in Busan, Seoul and Ulsan before joining a business firm in 2005.

Geum also left the prosecutor’s office in 2007 and is currently working at a local law firm called Jipyong & Jisung.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)