Rep. says 172 opposition members audited

Rep. Chung Hyung-Keun of the opposition Grand National Party alleged Wednesday that the government has completed tracing the bank accounts of 172 opposition figures' bank accounts for the past 14 months, adding that bank accounts for four ruling party members including Lee Jong-Chan, former director of the National Intelligence Service, also were checked.

"This regime is preparing for suppressing the opposition party with the findings of the deposit accounts, as soon as the upcoming ASEM conference is over,¡± the GNP lawmaker contended in a meeting of the National Assembly Budget-Settlement Committee.

In connection with the Hanvit Bank loan scandal, the outspoken lawmaker alleged that a company president, who received a credit guarantee from Lee Un-Young, former Yongdong branch office chief of the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, had been forced to make a false confession of receiving millions of won from Lee, under the prosecution's coercion.