Choi Do-sul under Suspicion of Receiving Money From Companies Other than SK

The Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office (Director Ahn Dae-hee), currently investigating the ‘SK slush funds’ scandal, announced on October 9 that it now considers issuing a preliminary arrest warrant if Representative Choi Don-woong of the Grand National Party (GNP), who served as a chief financial official of GNP, is suspected of accepting about 10 billion won from SK group right before the Presidential campaign last year, keeps ignoring the summons from the Prosecutors.

Rep. Choi announced that he will disobey the summons from the prosecutors on October 10, saying, “It’s not true that I’ve received the money from SK” in the press conference held at the GNP office in Youido, Seoul on the same day.

The prosecutors will send a summons once more if Rep. Choi doesn’t present himself on October 10.

It is reported that the prosecutors have some clues that Rep. Choi used the money he received from SK for personal purposes or transferred it into his own Parliamentary campaign camp and are investigating this.

Also, the prosecutors are suspecting that Rep. Lee Sang-soo of the new Parliamentary negotiating bloc, who served as the secretary general of the Millennium Democratic Party(MDP) in the Presidential Campaign last year, received about 3-4 billion won from the SK group. On that matter, the prosecutors recalled SK Chairman Son Kil-seung recently and probed about the method and purpose of the transfer of money to Rep. Lee.

The prosecutors said they also obtained evidence that Lee, a former bank official in Pusan, who connected Chou Do-sul, former Presidential secretary on general affairs, with Chairman Son, has been deeply involved in Choi’s money-taking scandal. But they’re having difficulties in the investigation because Lee is in the hospital after suffering from a stroke due to cerebral paralysis.

Furthermore, Choi is under suspicion that he received money from companies other than SK.

The prosecutors decided to launch the probe on the slush funds transfer from SK to the political parties during the general election on April 13, 2000 after the investigation on the campaign funds of presidential election was finished.

Wi-Yong Jung viyonz@donga.com