[Editorial] Another Illicit Fund Scandal

Millenium Democratic Party Rep. Roh Kwan-kyu, who is leading an internal audit on last year’s presidential campaign fund, claimed “12.85 billion won accounting fraud was revealed.” Now, even the concrete amount of money is presented after the allegations were raised over the duplicate accounting books, disappearance of campaign donation receipts, and fundraising after the presidential election.

Rep. Lee Sang-soo of the Uri Party and other campaigners who were responsible for managing funds for President Roh during the last year’s election campaign should clear their allegations over how the fund was raised, how much were raised, and where the money went.

It is all the more needed as the Uri Party requested that the Grand National Party reveal the truth concerning the allegations over the 10 billion won SK slush fund.

However, Rep. Lee repeatedly says, “There’s no problem since all were written on receipts.” The Uri Party raised a retaliatory accusation, saying, “The MDP embezzled 10 billion won in campaign fund.” It is understandable the two parties want to occupy a vantage point before the general election. However, it is more than ugly that the two parties, most of whose members used to belong to the same party until only recently, intimidate each other with presidential and general election campaign funds.

Regarding this, only the prosecution can reveal the truth clearly. The prosecution should conduct thorough investigations as it made a commitment to a strict investigation. “Hard and difficult an investigation may be”, like Prosecutor General Song Kwang-soo once said. Prosecutors should not forget the fact that the Korean people expect much from them. If acting on this fact, the prosecution would be free from the criticism that the investigation is excessively focused on the opposition GNP.

The ongoing ordinary session of the National Assembly is almost ignored because of the election fund scandals. The major issues such as Korea-Chile FTA and stock-related class action are left behind despite their urgency. The political community should end its quarrel over the illicit fund. For its part, the prosecution should carry out a thorough and fast investigation.