Canal Report Leaked for the Sake of Friendship?

The police have been looking into the leakage of the report on the proposed Korean canal project. So far, the probe has confirmed who first leaked the report and who acted as messenger between the “discloser” and the press. Many questions, however, still remain unanswered. For example, what was the motive and who were the “coordinators” in the leakage scandal? Despite the probe, doubts are increasing day after day.

One interesting discovery is that the key figure in the scandal was one of the co-leaders of the New Right Youth Union, who has been actively engaged in various political activities.

The report was leaked by Kim Sang-woo, a high-ranking official from the state-run Korea Water Resources Corporation (KWRC). Kim reportedly told the police that he had handed over the document to his graduate schoolmate, Kim Hyeon-jung. He alleged that his act was out of pure friendship. The explanation, however, does not sound reasonable at all.

In a telephone interview with the Dong-A, Kim explained, “I first met [Hyeon-jung] in class. He was one of my classmates at graduate school. I just knew he was an IT CEO. I had no clue that he was running a ‘marriage brokerage.’ He seemed like an honest and outgoing person. I thought the report would help his business. That’s it.”

Contrary to his explanation, many things smell fishy. First, the KWRC’s planning division originally prepared the report. By the time it was handed over, the report was disguised as a document prepared by a task force consisting of staff members from 4 government agencies, including the KWRC.

We suspect the motive as well. All things point to the conclusion that Kim made some cover-up efforts against any possible public disclosure of the report.

Another outstanding suspicion hovers over the question whether Kim single-handedly conducted the act. Kim must have predicted the ramifications from the disclosure of the report to the public. The report, in association with the ongoing battle among the presidential candidates, has had a devastating political ripple effect. The police investigation, however, is silent on this issue.

Why did the new right leader accept it?-

We also wonder why New Right Youth Union Leader Kim Hyeon-jung accepted the report.

The report does not seem to have been beneficial to Hyeon-jung’s business. In addition, he handed it over to a journalist, knowing that the journalist would write an article on it.

Considering Hyeon-jung’s political career, we cannot help but suspect that Hyeon-jung was politically motivated. On his personal homepage, Hyeon-jung introduces himself as one of the co-leaders of the New Right Youth Union, and posts thereon a number of photos he has taken with renowned politicians.

All the facts diminish the persuasiveness of Kim’s explanation. The report was politically sensitive. Allegedly, he handed it over to Hyeon-jung just because Hyeon-jung was one of his close classmates. The whole story is hard to swallow.

The authorities do not buy Kim’s story, either. Meanwhile, Hyoen-jung shut down his personal homepage after the press conference yesterday.

Yet another suspicious point is whether Hyeong-jung gave the report to only one journalist. Hyeon-jung has a variety of political connections and friends.

It is also highly likely that Hyeon-jung gave copies of it to his political “friends,” too.

Swift moves-

Only one week after the leakage, a magazine ran a story on it. Kim delivered the report to Hyeon-jung on May 28, and, upon receipt of it on June 1, the journalist wrote an article on it three days later.

They do not seem to have hesitated at all. Thus, the police suspect that they acted upon some “premeditated” plan.

“We have confirmed that Kim has no personal relationship with the journalist. They did not know each other. So, we are wondering what role Hyeon-jung played,” disclosed the police.

Probe into Seoul Development Institute for violation of the Election Act-

As it conducts a probe into the Seoul Development Institute, the authorities are focusing on who directed the institute to look into the validity and plausibility of the Korean canal project and why.

The institute, which is supervised by the Seoul municipal government, is supposed to conduct research on the major issues that the city faces.

The National Election Commission, which asked the authorities to launch the probe to begin with, publicly confirmed the need to look into the correlation between the plausibility of the canal project and the governance of Seoul City.

If former Seoul Mayor and now leading presidential candidate Lee Byeong-bak had the institute look into the project during his tenure as an effort to develop a policy for his presidential bid, the act could constitute a law violation.

A couple of facts drew the attention of authorities. The institute first launched its investigation into the subject less than 6 months prior to the end of Lee’s mayoral term. Further, a couple of key players in the plausibility research now occupy key posts in Lee’s camp.

The institute, however, still denies all the negative implications and allegations. “We conducted the research [on the canal project] as part of a long-term municipal policy project, which began in 2004. The research was part of the project,” countered the institute.