Opposition Party is to Summon Team Leaders of National Tax Service

The Grand National Party (GNP) decided Thursday to summon all 23 team leaders of the National Tax Service`s (NTS) investigation into the media companies. As the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) defined the GNP`s accusation as a "political offensive" and decided to make a countermove, tax probe into media companies is creating a stir.

- GNP: GNP Policy Committee chief Kim Man-Je said that ``the party will call for the attendance of the concerned personnel and question the NTS and Seoul District Office heads on how they determined the amount owed by each company in back taxes and fines at a meeting of the Assembly’s Finance Committee on June 25.``

The GNP members of the National Assembly’s Culture and Tourism Committee submitted a proposal to the party’s floor leader Lee Jae-Oh to question the related officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, The Fair Trade Commission (FTC), and Ministry of Culture and Tourism on the unfairness of the tax probe into media companies.The GNP spokesperson Kwon Chul-Hyun said that ``following the NTS, the FTC launched a threat imposing enormous penalty taxes. The ruling camp`s attempt to oppress the opposition, the media and the people, will never succeed.``

- MDP: Having held two consecutive party meetings - an urgent party meeting attended by the members of the Assembly’s Finance and Economy Committee and Culture and Tourism Committee and a Supreme Council meeting attended by the party leaders, Kim Jung-Kwon representative of the MDP, confirmed the fairness of the tax probe and decided to take countermeasures against the GNP through the each Assembly’s committee. The MDP Supreme Council said at the meeting that ``the NTS investigated the tax probe in accordance with lawful procedures and principles. This should neither be subject to a political brawl nor distortion.`` The Supreme Council also said that ``if the GNP had investigated the media companies during the GNP rule, the amount of the tax evasion would have not been as much. It is the GNP that used the tax probe strategically for the media control.``

- National Assembly: Sohn Hak-Kyu GNP Assemblyperson said at the Assembly’s Finance and Economy Committee that ``the NS has inflicted a moral damage on the media companies by exaggerating the tax evasion. If we inquire the lawfulness of the tax probe later, the case may remain unsettled.`` Jung Sae-Kyun MDP Assemblyperson said that ``the tax probe is a matter of administration. It should not become a political issue. The issue is not the amount of tax penalty, but whether the ground of imposing tax penalty is reasonable.`` Jin Nyum Deputy Prime Minister and Finance and Economy Minister said that ``although it is painful to collect an enormous penalty taxes from media companies since they are the public institutions, nothing much could be done upon such illegal cases. There will be no negotiation with each company with regard to the amount of tax penalty.``

Song In-Soo issong@donga.com