Prosecutors summon Rep. Kang Sam-Jae in NSP fund case

The Central Investigation Department (CID) of the Supreme Public Prosecutor¡¯s Office (SPPO) is conducting an intensive probe into allegations that the nation¡¯s top intelligence agency funneled money into the then ruling party's campaigns for the local elections in 1995 and the general polls in 1996.

Prosecutors have confirmed the names of candidates of the then ruling New Korea Party (NKP; later GNP) who are suspected of accepting a combined 115.7 billion in campaign funds from the former Agency for National Security Planning (NSP), now the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The June 27 local elections in 1995 were to choose the heads of local autonomous bodies.

Prosecutors have also confirmed through an investigation of the candidates¡¯ bank accounts that about 20 were provided with the NSP funds through the campaign headquarters of the NKP, now the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), for the April 11, 1996 parliamentary elections.

They include Rep. Kang Sam-Jae of the GNP, then head of the NKP's campaign headquarters. The amounts funneled in by the NSP ranged from 20 million to 1.5 billion won per candidate, SPPO sources said Sunday.

The prosecutors allegedly found that Kang, who was also secretary general of the NKP, had played a leading role in managing the NSP-provided campaign money and had given it directly to the party candidates or used it to cover expenses for party operations, they said.

The SPPO officially demanded Rep. Kang to appear before prosecutors at 3 p.m. Monday.

If Kang ignores the summons, prosecutors will send subpoenas once or twice more. In the event that the lawmaker fails to comply, the prosecutors will send a court-issued motion for Kang's arrest to the National Assembly and then l seek forcible means to bringing him in.

However, the SPPO is not said to be investigating former President Kim Young-Sam and his second son Hyon-Chol with regard to the NSP case.

The prosecutors questioned Kim Ki-Sop, a former deputy director of the NSP, who was arrested Friday for his role in the alleged illicit use of the NSP budget, on whether former top leaders of the then ruling camp were involved in the case. But Kim said he acted alone, according to the SPPO sources.

Meanwhile, Hwang Myung-Soo, a former NKP lawmaker, was in court Sunday for a review of the arrest warrant prosecutors were seeking on suspicion that he received 500 million won in bribes from Korean-American lobbyist Choe Man-Soek, 60. Choe is now on the wanted list in connection with alleged irregularities in the selection of the type of train used for the Seoul-Pusan high-speed railroad.

Hwang is suspected of accepting a total of 500 million won on four occasions in the eight months after February 1996. He allegedly took at least 1,000 100,000-won checks (100 million won) on each occasion.