Opposition Party Pursues National Assembly Hearing

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) exposed capital flight cases where some owners of nonviable companies, that have been supported by government-raised public funds, diverted huge amount of money from the funds and hid the money in foreign countries. The ruling and opposition parties urged for a thorough investigation by the related authorities, proper punishment for the responsible company owners, and a National Assembly hearing.

Vice-spokesperson of the New Millennium Democratic Party Lee Myung-Shik said, "We were all shocked by the fact that the owners of about 10 nonviable companies that have been sustained by government-raised public funds were found to have hidden away about 400 million dollars in foreign countries. The prosecutor office will have to harshly punish the responsible persons, and to track down the hidden money and get it back to the government."

Senior vice-spokesperson of the Grand National Party (GNP) urged for the instant release of the inspection result and the parliamentary investigation on the public funds, saying "We are most disappointed at the concealment of the public funds. And the government should examine the appropriation of the funds and the responsible persons."

And GNP floor leader Lee Jae-Oh said, "If the BAI investigation result is announced, the National Assembly will resume the hearing on the public funds that had been suspended in the beginning of this year, as the ruling and opposition parties agreed."

Young-Chan Yoon yyc11@donga.com