President Will Soon Express His Position on Election Funds, Says Prime Minister

Prime Minister Goh Kun said on Thursday that in the final stage of investigation into illegal election funds, the president would likely express his position on the issue. That is an answer to the question: “Doesn’t the president come forward and explain the truth about political funds?” raised by Kim Young-kyun of the Grand National Party (GNP) during the parliamentary questioning session on social and cultural areas.

The prime minister also said that special measures are necessary to eliminate collusion between politics and business and to make elections, political funds, and corporate management more transparent. “The political community should build consensus with the public first, but if necessary, a special act on illicit political funds needs to be made.”

Minister of Education and Human Resources Development Ahn Byung-young said that the ministry would earmark 1.6 trillion won in the budget to ease the financial burden of private education over the next five years. “We have already secured part of the budget, and the rest will be prepared through appropriation.”

On the investigation being carried out by the prosecution regarding bribes given to 11 lawmakers for changing party membership before the 2002 presidential election, Minster of Justice Kang Kum-sil said that the prosecution did not use the term “transferring fee,” and that with the probe unfinished, it is too soon to refer to the money as a transferring fee.

Yong-Gwan Jung yongari@donga.com