Why Was the Secret Investigation Concluded So Soon?

The Prosecutor`s Office said on Nov. 13 that it had summoned unofficially and inquired of Kim Eun-Sung, the Second Deputy Chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), who was suspected of having received 10 million won from the vice chairperson of Dongbang Mutual Savings Lee Kyung-Ja (currently in custody), who was known as a window for lobbying in `Chung Hyun-Joon Scandal`, and had concluded the secret investigation thereafter.

But a repercussion of suspicions surrounding Kim`s alleged involvement in accepting the money seems likely to be magnified because the reason and the background as to why the Prosecutor`s Office conducted a belated and hasty inquiry of Kim and concluded the investigation so soon are unconvincing in many ways.

The Prosecutor`s Office said on that day, ``It is true that when Dongbang Mutual Savings` illegal loaning was investigation Lee was under investigation in November of last year Lee stated that she had given 10 million won to Kim.``

Lee allegedly stated that she was introduced to Kim by a person named Kang, who was a company advisor, at a coffee shop located on the second floor of the Seoul Educational and Cultural Center in Yangjea-Dong, Seocho-Gu, Seoul on Sep. 8, 2000 and gave 10 million won to him.

The Prosecutor`s Office said, ``Right after Donga Daily Newspaper reported the former NIS Economic Director Kim Hyung-Yoon`s involvement in bribery on Sep. 18, the Seoul District Prosecutor`s Office Special Crime Division II looked over the statements about the deputy chief Kim contained in the investigation report made by the previous investigation team and resumed the investigation from Sep. 20. It also summoned and inquired of the deputy chief Kim, Kang and Lee in early October.``

But the Prosecutor`s Office said that it had concluded the investigation because the money Lee had given to Kim could hardly be proven as bribe for Lee claimed it to be a customary free gift without anticipating anything in return, and moreover, Kim and Kang denied everything Lee had stated.

According to the Prosecutor`s Office, Deputy Chief Kim testified at the prosecution investigation, ``I just went out to meet Kang, with whom I am acquainted, as he once told me to see my face. At the meeting there was a woman I did not know, and I just walked away.``

Meanwhile, the Prosecutor`s Office said that Lee had attempted at lobbying an `influential person` through her husband Lee (on the wanted list) when the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) was conducting an investigation into Dongbang Mutual Savings last year.

But the Prosecutor`s Office added that the investigation made no progress because Lee stated that she did not know whether her husband had actually contacted an `influential person`, and because all those persons that her husband had contacted left abroad.

sooh@donga.com