Kang Says, “Legal Case Should Be Dropped”

The confrontation between the Grand National Party (GNP) and the Prosecutors’ Office over its investigation into allegations in relation to GNP presidential candidates is serious.

Party leaders of the GNP tried on July 9 to block a prosecutor’s intervention in the party primary by calling for Lee Myung-bak, former mayor of Seoul and a presidential hopeful of the GNP, to drop his case with the Prosecutors’ Office against related people of Park Geun-hye, former leader of the GNP.

The Prosecutors’ Office, however, made clear that it would carry on with the investigation whether or not this case is dropped, and the reactions of Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye are mixed, which has fueled controversy.

Drop all the charges-

Kang Jae-sup, the GNP leader, demanded Lee’s camp immediately drop all the charges filed at the camp level with investigation offices or independent institutions.

Kang said, “Those in the camp are insane as they have put our fate on the sharp knife of the prosecutors.” He emphasized that they need to fight desperately against enemies, but there should be “magnanimity” in domestic struggles.

Hong Joon-pyo, a presidential hopeful of GNP, said in a radio program, “Filing the charges is nonsense.” He went on to say, “Why did they bring the Prosecutors’ Office into the political arena by filing charges with them? It’s not understandable why they did such a stupid thing.”

He said, “The charges should be dropped. If there were any wrongdoings, the first thing to do is to seek the understanding of the public.” He criticized, “It doesn’t make sense that accusers filed charges and ask the prosecutors to investigate something and not to other things.”

Lee’s “Provisional reservations” vs. Park “Explanations first”-

Park Hyeong-jun, a spokesperson of Lee’s camp, drew a clear line, saying, “Lee’s camp is not in a position to drop charges because it is not the accuser.” Park said, “We will not be involved in a legitimate and normal investigation of prosecutors.” He went on to say, “Also the Prosecutors’ Office should not carry out an investigation that is determined by political considerations and decisions.”

Another official said, “The most desirable outcome is that prosecutors will swiftly and fairly investigate and make conclusions about the allegations and only those that were brought to the Prosecutors’ Office.” He said, “As we are not the accusers, we will wait and see how the investigation goes.”

Some in the camp, however, argued that careful consideration should be given to dropping the charges. The problem now is what Kim Jae-jung, Lee’s brother-in-law and the actual accuser, has in mind. His lawyer. Kim Yong-chul, said, “We will proceed with it because defamation against my client is serious.” Yet he left leeway, saying, “If Lee’s camp makes any decisions, we will consider them.”

Park’s side believes that Lee should give explanations regarding all the allegations and suspicions, whether or not the charges are dropped.” Lee Hye-hun, Park’s spokesperson, claimed, “We believe that political problems should be resolved politically. So we won’t oppose the dropping of charges. But Lee should provide explanations in relation to all the allegations, such as where the money from the sales of the property was spent.”

Kim Jae-won, a spokesperson, criticized Lee’s side, saying, “They brought tigers into the backyard of the opposition party, then ask them, ‘Do not eat me, I’m not delicious.’”

Park’s camp also blamed party leaders for their stance. In response to the request of the party leaders to drop the charges, Yu Seung-min, a GNP lawmaker, said “Party leaders are doing many things that give rise to misunderstandings.” He pointed out that it gives the impression that party leaders are calling for the dropping of charges to help Lee drop them because Lee himself is ashamed of making the wrong choice.”

The Prosecutors’ Office said, “The investigation will continue even if the charges are dropped.”

A high-ranking official of the Prosecutors’ Office said, “We should clarify whether this case is simply about personal defamation or if it has something to do with libel or malicious propaganda against candidates under the election law. If there violated the election law, we may continue the investigation.”

That means that even Lee’s side dropped the charges, if prosecutors found any suspicion of breaking the election law, they will continue carrying out the investigation. Also, prosecutors believe that the leakage of personal information by government agencies and the case brought by Lee’s side could also be cases that need investigating.

The Prosecutors’ Office took such a firm stance because they are concerned that if they withdraw the investigation by political force, this will harm the reputation and reliability of prosecutors.

Also, some prosecutors’ discontent with politicians played a role. A high-ranking official of the Prosecutors’ Office criticized them, saying, “Should the Prosecutors’ Office conduct investigations when politicians ask us to do so, and stop it when they ask us not to? Should we stop investigations when charges are dropped and resume them when charges are brought again?”

mhpark@donga.com will71@donga.com