Bottled Water Firm Jangsuchun Inc. Spent Illegal Funds For Debt Payment

The Central Investigation Bureau at the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office found evidence on November 14 that Ahn Hee-jung, an administrative aide to candidate Roh during the presidential election, had accepted 1.14 billion won in illicit political funds in November and December of 2002. Mr. Ahn is being charged with violating political financing laws. The prosecution also plans to summon Sohn Young-nae, the former commissioner of National Tax Service, who is suspected to have involvement with Sun & Moon Group’s request for tax reduction as a witness on December 15 at 12 a.m.

According to the prosecution, Mr. Ahn is suspected of using 590 million won in illegal funds from several companies and 100 million won that Sun & Moon provided to Lee Gwang-jae, a former presidential aid, in the administrative office of the MDP in Yoido from the end of last November to the eve of Election Day.

Mr. Ahn also provided Sun Bong-sul, the chairman of Jangsuchun Inc. and a friend of President Roh, with 450 million won that he had accepted from Kang Keum-won, the chairman of Changshin Textile Inc., under the name of paying back the debts of Jangsuchun Inc. on December 15 and 24 of 2002.

Beside the 100 million won that Mr. Ahn had accepted, the investigation showed that 700 million of the 1.4 billion won were paid through Mr. Sun’s bank account under a fake name. Mr. Sun had also used some of the funds from Mr. Ahn for the payment of Jangsuchun’s debts.

However, Mr. Ahn insisted that he had used all of the 590 million won in illicit presidential campaign funds during the presidential election and spent 100 million won from Sun & Moon on the Party’s union meeting at the end of December after the presidential election.

Meanwhile, the prosecution plans to summon Rep. Choi Don-woong of the GNP, for whom the prosecution has requested an arrest warrant, on December 15-16. Rep. Choi has agreed to approach the prosecution voluntarily.

The prosecution aims to interrogate Rep. Choi on whether or not the GNP conspired previously at the level of the central Party in the course of accepting 500 million won in illegal presidential campaign funds from SK, Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Motor.

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