Kang Keum-won and Seon Bong-sul Could Be Arrested

The Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office announced yesterday that the prosecution is slated to summon Kang Keum-won, chairman of Changshin Textile in Busan and president Roh Moo-hyun’s longtime supporter, and Seon Bong-sul, former president of Jangsoocheon, for questioning over a corruption scandal involving presidential aides, on December 1 and 2, respectively.

Moon Hyo-nam, chief investigation planner at the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, said, “At the moment, we are summoning them for questioning. However, depending on the outcome of the investigation, they could become suspects.” Kang and Seon could be placed under arrest if suspected of violating the Political Funds Act and accepting bribes.

At a recent questioning, Kang denied the allegations, saying, “I gave Seon 950 million won to help reduce his company’s liability. He paid back the 450 million won last February.” However, the prosecution has expanded its investigation after finding that facts surrounding their exchange of funds were unclear.

Besides the 230 million out of 1.1 billion won which former presidential secretary Choi Do-sul illegally accepted from SK Group, another large deposit of funds to Seon’s bank account has been discovered. The source of this money is unclear.

In addition, the prosecution summoned Kang Byung-jong, chairman of Nexen and Busan Broadcasting Company, for questioning over the suspicion that he furnished several hundred million won to Choi, as well as 1.5 billion won and 3 billion won to Roh’s campaign funds. The prosecution plans to arrest him as soon as it is able to confirm the suspicion.

Meanwhile, the prosecution has expanded its investigation to target politicians after confirming that other politicians besides Rep. Choi Don-woong (GNP), who accepted 10 billion won in slush funds from SK Group, accepted illegal funds during last year’s presidential election campaign.

Moon, chief investigation planner at the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, said, “We have made progress in our investigation, especially in regard to the transfer of slush funds to politicians, as in the SK case. However, we cannot reveal the identity of the parties involved.”

On Tuesday, the prosecution also investigated the head office of Cosmolink, an affiliate of Samsung Electro-mechanics, located in Okchon-gun, North Chungchong province, as well as its Seoul office in Seocho-dong Seocho-gu. It questioned Kim, the president of Cosmolink over suspicions that Samsung Electro-mechanics raised slush funds.

Wi-Yong Jung Tae-Hoon Lee viyonz@donga.com jefflee@donga.com