Roh’s Camp May Have Accepted One Billion Won from Hanwha

The Central Investigation Bureau of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, currently investigating the case surrounding illegal presidential election fund raising, summoned and questioned Lee Jae-jeong, the chairman of the committee of the Uri Party, on January 15 after confirming that he had accepted one billion won in illegal campaign funds from the Hanwha Group during the 2002 presidential election campaign.

As a result of this, the total amount of illegal presidential campaign funds raised by candidate Roh’s camp increased by approximately 6.8 billion won.

According to the results of the investigation so far, this total includes presidential campaign funds provided under the names of executives from some of the country’s biggest conglomerates, including SK, Samsung, and Hyundai Motors.

Lee is suspected of accepting one billion won in certificates of deposit (CD) from CEO Kim Hyun-chung of Hanwha Engineering & Construction when he visited Cheju on December 16, 2002, and giving the funds to Rep. Lee Sang-soo of the Uri Party, who was serving as campaign chairman of the Election Polling Committee of the MDP, on the following day.

“Chairman Lee received the funds from Hanwha without any receipts,” prosecution sources said. “ These are illegal campaign contributions.”

The prosecution questioned Lee late into the night before allowing him to return home. It will decide the extent of criminal punishment against Lee after investigating Rep. Lee Sang-soo on January 17.

The prosecution plans to investigate the illegal campaign funds that Rep. Jeong Dae-cheol of the Uri Party handled, including the alleged Hanwha funds, when Rep. Lee Sang-soo appears before the prosecution.

In response to this, one of the investigators, Moon Hyo-nam, said that “a detention order for Rep. Lee Sang-soo may be necessary after the investigation.” He implied that the prosecution is not ruling out the possibility of requesting an arrest warrant for Lee.

The prosecution is also investigating the possibility that the Hanwha Group provided several billion won in illegal campaign contributions to the Grand National Party.

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