Lee Hoi-chang’s Possible Candidacy Brings Up 2002 Election Fund Scandal Again

As former Grand National Party (GNP) leader Lee Hoi-chang’s bid for the upcoming presidential election becomes more likely, the 2002 illegal presidential election fund scandal is becoming a hot issue in political circles.

GNP Secretary General Lee Bang-ho demanded on November 1 that the former party leader disclose how the remnant of his presidential election fund has been used, while the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) called for an immediate investigation into Lee’s illegal use of the election fund.

Some argue that if Lee Hoi-chang is investigated with respect to his use of the remnant of the 2002 election fund, an investigation into President Roh Moo-hyun’s election fund should be undertaken after his retirement from office. The GNP maintains that some conglomerates offered bribes to the ruling party in the name of congratulatory gifts after it came to power.

It is known that during the investigation into the presidential election fund in 2004, a prosecutor in charge of an investigation into Roh was selected.

Following a similar remark the day before, Lee Bang-ho said again on November 2, “When the ruling party is bent on making issue of even the slightest fault of Lee Myung-bak, the candidacy of Lee Hoi-chang, whose presidential election fund has been questioned, would give more fodder to the UNDP. What I said in relation to Lee Hoi-chang’s election fund was a warning message that the above fact should be considered before Lee decides his candidacy.”

It is widely held in the GNP that Choi Byeong-ryeol, the then former party leader in 2003, has a notebook containing the details of the 2002 presidential election fund, and Lee Bang-ho and some other GNP lawmakers, who were close associates of Choi, are aware of substantial parts of the contents.

During the parliamentary inspection by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee into the Ministry of Justice held in the Gwacheon Government Complex on November 2, the UNDP urged that the Prosecutor’s Office begin an investigation into Lee Hoi-chang’s 2002 election fund scandal.

Choi Jae-cheon, a spokesman of the UNDP, criticized the GNP, saying, “The GNP is, after all, the party which took illegal election funds. The blunt talks within the GNP over Lee Hoi-chang’s possible candidacy remind us of the GNP’s true identity that we have forgotten for a while.”

During a discussion with an Internet media outlet, Chung Dong-young, the UNDP’s presidential candidate, criticized Lee Hoi-chang strongly, saying, “It is a comedy that is deplorable, unprecedented in history, and infuriates the nation.”

Some criticize the Prosecutors’ Office for its indecisiveness as the office investigated illegal election fund scandals involving Lee and Roh from August 2003 through May 2004, but failed to prosecute them, leaving the seeds of discord intact.

The Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation did not produce any solid evidence that Roh and Lee were involved in illegal election fund-raising, but only proved that Seo Jeong-woo, who served as a legal adviser to Lee, and Ahn Hee-jeong and Lee Gwang-jae, who are Roh’s associates, were embroiled.

The Prosecutor’s investigation revealed that then Democratic candidate Roh Moo-hyun told Choi Do-sul and some others “to give some money to Seon Bong-sul and some others for their financial losses in relation to Roh`s bottled water company, Jangsucheon.” Roh is said to have specified the presidential election fund of 250 million won kept in his election administration office in Busan. Yet the Prosecutors’ Office reserved the right to investigate the president elect directly as there was a dissenting opinion over the constitutional interpretation that the president currently serving the office cannot be prosecuted.

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