SPPO to forcibly arrest suspect in spy agency scandal

The Central Investigation Headquarters of the Supreme Public Prosecutor¡¯s Office (SPPO) has decided to forcibly apprehend Rep. Kang Sam-Jae of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) in connection with the alleged use of part of the top intelligence agency¡¯s budget to finance election campaigns by the former ruling party. The SPPO made the decision after Rep. Kang, who was secretary general of the former ruling New Korea Party (NKP) at the time of the April 11 general elections in 1996, refused to appear before prosecutors voluntarily.

The prosecutors will ask the court to issue an arrest warrant for the lawmaker and seek to apprehend him by force. He was originally sent a summons to report to the SPPO at 10 a.m., Wednesday.

The prosecutors found that the campaign money from the former Agency for National Security Planning (NSP), now the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was deposited in false-name bank accounts maintained by most NKP candidates for seats in the 1996 parliamentary elections and 1995 local elections.

The prosecution is also conducting an intensive probe into allegations that other NKP leaders, besides Rep. Kang, were involved in the illegal diversion of NSP money. They plan to summon about 37 candidates, who are suspected of having received more than 400 million won each, and about 10 others suspected of having used NSP money for personal purposes. Prosecutors believe that the 120 billion won that is thought to have been turned over to the NKP could hardly have been raised and allocated by two people, namely Rep. Kang and former NSP vice director Kim Ki-Sup, who is already in custody. They are seeking ways of drastically expanding the number of people under investigation, according to SPPO sources.