All-Out Investigation on Corporate Slush Funds

The Central Investigations Department of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (Head Prosecutor Ahn Dae-hee) publicly stated on October 3 that they will investigate all cases of illegal monetary transactions that the Millennium Democratic Party and the Grand National Party took part in by receiving illegal funds for the presidential elections last year.

This public statement clarifies the intentions of investigating the illegal transactions involving last year’s Millennium Democratic Party candidate, current president Roh Moo-hyun. The results of this investigation are expected to arouse a political uproar throughout the nation.

Assistant Prosecutor General, Kim Jong-bin, also added, “If there is evidence, investigations will be held concerning last year’s illegal campaign funds which both parties had received from SK and other corporations.”

The prosecution is expanding its SK slush funds investigation by looking at other corporations that have allegedly contributed large amounts of money to the political arena. The list of corporations currently includes Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motors, Lotte, Doosan, and Poongsan. The prosecution will investigate any corporation if there is evidence or suspicion of such wrongdoings.

Head Prosecutor of the Central Investigations Department of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Ahn Dae-hee, stated in the afternoon at a press conference that he will “clarify suspicions through investigations regarding the slush funds and their uses by both parties and their candidates.” Ahn also added that “investigations concerning corruption by the president’s close associates will also be carried out with exact precision.”

The prosecution has attained partial evidence on the corporate origins of slush funds through the questioning of Uri Party member, Lee Sang-soo, and former Grand National Party Financial Director, Lee Jae-hyun.

The prosecution will soon prohibit corporate employees who played important roles in the illegal transactions from departing the country and will also accurately analyze data submitted by both the Millennium Democratic Party and the Grand National Party regarding the slush funds.

The prosecution has stated that in the case that cooperation in submitting data is neglected, a search warrant will be signed by the court entitling them to the right of confiscation and the right to trace bank accounts.

The prosecution is planning to enlarge its investigation team on this case by adding one executive prosecutor and two to three more prosecutors for a total of 14 to 15 prosecutors working on the case.

Head Prosecutor Ahn stated, “The increase of the investigation team was solely the team’s choice. We will do our very best and will modestly take any criticisms after the investigations have been concluded.”

Wi-Yong Jung Jin-Kyun Kil viyonz@donga.com leon@donga.com