Mounting Suspicion Over Prosecution`s Responsibility for Late Chairman Chung`s Death

A controversy is intensifying over the motive of late Hyundai Asan chairman Chung Mong-hun as ruling party lawmaker Ham Seung-hee, a member of a parliamentary committee, raised a suspicion Monday that the prosecution`s mistreatment against the chairman during its investigation may have led him to commit suicide.

The ruling party lawmaker said in a Monday`s general meeting of the parliamentary judiciary committee, “The late chairman`s close associates insisted that prosecutors, who were obsessed with becoming a star prosecutor by uncovering all truth behind the secret cash transfer to North Korea, insulted and intimidated the chairman during their interrogations which lasted for 12 hours every two days (before he jumped to his death from a window of his office.)”

He also added, “Prosecutors have allegedly thrown a thick book at the chairman`s head, saying that “the prosecution has a power to destroy a conglomerate if it wants”. The late chairman seemed to admit that his company had offered a considerable amount of money to the Kim Dae-jung government in addition to the 15 billion won in bribes that was discovered by the special council`s investigation.”

In response, Justice Minister Kang Kum-sil denied the lawmaker`s alleged mistreatment of the late chairman by the prosecution, adding that, “If he provides the prosecution with all related information, we will launch an immediate investigation into the allegation. Meanwhile, the ruling party lawmaker raised a separate suspicion regarding the prosecution`s mistreatment, saying that even the prosecution searched a prosecutor`s sister`s home without a warrant when it carried out an internal investigation against the prosecutor.

Responding another suspicion, the Justice Minister said, “It is inappropriate to officially mention the prosecution`s internal investigation issue.” She, however, didn`t deny the allegation by saying, “I was meant to say that there weren`t any illegal actions by the prosecution involved in relation to the late chairman`s death, not that the prosecution has never made any illegal actions.”

Hyung-gwon Pu Min-Hyuk Park bookum90@donga.com mhpark@donga.com