Prosecutors raid home and offices of ex-vice minister of economy


Prosecutors questioned former Korea Communications Commission Chairman Choi See-joong on Wednesday on suspicion of accepting bribes from a business developer in exchange for influence-peddling.

Investigators also searched the home of former Knowledge Economy Vice Minister Park Young-joon in the same case.

Both are among the closest confidants to President Lee Myung-bak.

“I will fully comply with the investigation.” Choi told upon appearing at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul.

Choi is suspected of receiving around 500 million won ($439,000) from construction contractor Lee Jeong-bae through broker Lee Dong-ryul around 2007 in return for his influence to help him get the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s approval of a project to build a large retail complex.

The scandal is spreading to several of the president’s key aides and potentially other high-ranking officials of the incumbent government as the prosecution suspect that Choi contacted key figures to inquire about the construction project at the time.

Prosecutors said Choi admitted to accepting the money through broker Lee but continued to deny during the interrogation it was for a favor. They added they plan to speed up the investigation into Choi, who was interrogated until late afternoon.

Choi said that the money was used to conduct popularity polls for Lee during the election campaign in 2007, immediately raising questions over the legitimacy of the president’s election funds. 

But Choi reportedly shifted his position, telling the Dong-A Ilbo a day before he appeared for prosecutors’ questioning that he used the money personally and that they were not related to Lee’s election funds.

Once Choi’s involvement in the development project is confirmed, prosecutors plan to seek an arrest warrant against the former top regulator for taking bribes.

Upon testimonies from the developer that he also sent money to Park, investigators searched the house and offices of the former aide and seized relevant documents.

News reports said Park allegedly made a phone call to a high-ranking Seoul City official in 2007 and asked about the progress of the project.

Prosecutors are expected to summon Park for questioning soon, the reports said.

As the investigation proceeds, prosecutors are trying to identify the destinations of the roughly 34 billion of remaining slush funds created by Lee Jeong-bae, according to the reports.

Lee Jeong-bae has testified he handed over 6.1 billion won to the broker to be delivered to Choi and Park for favors. Prosecutors have found evidence of lobbying funds worth up to 1.1 billion won.

Lee Dong-ryul, currently under arrest, allegedly introduced Choi and Park to Lee Jeong-bae around 2005 to discuss the licensing of the construction project for a former cargo terminal site in Yangjae-dong, Seoul. Seoul Metropolitan Government approved the change of the use of land in 2006 and permitted the construction plan in 2009.

The project, however, suffered from a shortage of investment and construction delays, leading to the creditors filing for bankruptcy in 2010.

Seoul City has also launched its own investigation into the case and plans to cooperate fully with the prosecutors’ investigation, the Munhwa Ilbo reported.

Opposition parties, in the meantime, continued to highlight the potential connection between the bribery and the incumbent government.

Moon Sung-keun, interim leader of the Democratic United Party, insisted prosecutors must look at all funds used in the 2007 presidential election.

“Prosecutors were given the disgraceful name of ‘political prosecutors’ during the Lee Myung-bak administration, and this is the perfect chance for them to exonerate themselves,” Moon said during a senior councilors’ meeting at the party’s headquarters in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, Wednesday.

Moon also warned against the prosecutors for trying to “wrap the case up” as a simple act of bribery.

Lee had expressed confidence over the transparency of his presidential election funds in the past. After the presidential race, the victorious camp was reported to have used about 2.2 billion won for the primary and 37.2 billion won for the presidential election.

This was far below the legal maximum of 46.6 billion won. It was reported that the funds were collected from the subsidies provided by the National Election Commission and donations collected by the camp.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)