3 Prosecutors Summoned

Special Prosecutor Cha Jeong-Il decided to summon prosecutor L, who is suspected of leaking information about the investigation of the Public Prosecution on Lee Yong-Ho, and prosecutors K and J, who had received one million won each from Mr. Shin Seung-Hwan as parting money.

The Special Prosecution will indict them if their violations of the law such as leaking information or receiving solicitations for special favors for Mr. Lee are proved.

The Special Prosecution is trying to verify the circumstances under which the related high ranking prosecutors met with Mr. Shin and received the parting money in May of last year based on a memorandum that Mr. Shin submitted to the Prosecution.

The Special Prosecution also investigated Mr. Lee and grilled Mr. Shin, who is imprisoned in Seoul Detention House, again about whether he solicited the favors of the high ranking prosecutors at Mr. Lee`s request and under what circumstances he delivered the money to them.

However, Mr. Shin insisted that "I did meet with high ranking prosecutors but the meetings were only private meetings, not for soliciting."

An official of the Special Prosecution said that "We are closely analyzing the circumstances surrounding Mr. Shin`s meeting with high-ranking prosecutors last year. We will summon the high ranking prosecutors or investigate them through written documents or phone calls depending on whether they were solicited for the favors and what favors Mr. Shin requested if they were solicited."

The Special Prosecution will complete tracing the accounts of the prosecutors who are suspected to have protected Mr. Lee in May 2000, including those of former Pusan High Public Prosecutor`s General Lim Hui-Yoon, former deputy General of the Kwangju High Public Prosecutor`s Office Lim Yang-Wun, and Kunsan District Prosecutor`s General Lee Deok-Shin by the end of this week and will summon them if any involvement is revealed.

myzodan@donga.com