Prosecution Demanded 9 Years` Imprisonment Each for Kang S.J. and Kim K.S.

The Central Investigation Division at the Prosecutor-General`s Office (Director, Ahn Dae-hee) Tuesday demanded nine years` imprisonment each for Rep. Kang Sam-jae of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and Kim Ki-sup, a former senior official of the National Security Planning (now the National Intelligence Service), indicted on charges of diverting some of the budget for the intelligence agency to election campaigns.

The prosecution also demanded collecting a combined 94 billion won from both of them and 25.7 billion won from Kim Ki-sup as a supplement penalty.

At the final trial that day, the prosecution said that they caused a huge loss of more than 100 billion won from the state coffers, taking advantage of a loophole in the agency, so harsh punishment is unavoidable to reform the intelligence agency, which was often used by successive governments as a means to maintain their power, and to root out those violators who are seen as an obstacle to the development of democracy.

The prosecution described the case as a crime planned by those in high places in an organized way, based on a political calculation because they spent taxpayers` money as campaign funds for a specific party.

The lawyer for Rep. Kang Sam-jae retorted that in this case, the prosecution’s investigation was originally aimed at oppressing the opposition party at the request of former President Kim Dae-jung.

In his final statement, the GNP lawmaker denied the charge, saying, "If the charge is true, I will resign as a lawmaker and make an apology to the public. But I`ve never received campaign funds from the agency."

"I hope that this case give momentum to solving the political funds issue. It is urgent to tackle this issue like discord between the Jeolla region and Gyeongsang region in Korea`s political reality," the former intelligence official said.

Kim Ki-sup provided financial support to the then ruling New Korea Party in local and general elections in 1995 and 1996 with 119.7 billion won raised from the National Security Planning`s budget and Rep. Kang spent 94 billion won he received from Kim for election campaigns. They were indicted in January 2001 on charges of loss from state coffers.

Due to a lot of complications, the case was delayed by 2 years and 8 months. A sentencing trial is scheduled for September 23.

Jin-Kyun Kil leon@donga.com