NSP budget used for the former ruling party: Kim Ki-Sup

Kim Ki-Sup, deputy chief of the then Agency for National Security Planning (NSP), who was arrested and indicted for diverting NSP funds to the former ruling party, reportedly said that he backed the payment of 20 billion won to the then New Korea Party (NKP) ahead of the general election campaign in October 1995 and 80 billion won in the runup to the general election in January 1996.

According to the investigation records of the central investigation bureau of the Supreme Public Prosecutor`s Office, obtained by the Dong-a Ilbo news coverage team Tuesday, Kim said on Jan. 21 that his subordinate brought a plain white envelope containing 100 100-million won checks to him and that he delivered the money to NKP either that day or the next.

Out of the checks totaling 94 billion won to be created through the means, 4.7 billion won in October and December in 1995, 48 billion won in January 1996, and 36 billion won in March 1996 were converted into cash through the bank accounts under borrowed names, which had been managed by Kang Sam-Jae, the then director general of the NKP, and the remaining 5.3 billion won were converted into cash in April, September, and December, respectively, after the general election, the prosecution said.

If Kim`s statement is true, the key issue of the case would be whether the checks were delivered directly to Kang, who cashed them after holding on to them for awhile, and whether the checks were delivered to Kang through a third person or an institution.

On the prosecutor`s question of whether Kim delivered the checks to Kang, who later laundered them, Kim did not comment. He refused to say who gave him the checks and how they were delivered. Kim strongly denied that Cheong Wa Dae or former President Kim Young-Sam had any role in the diversion of funds.

Shin Suk-Ho kyle@donga.com