Bribery Indictment Set for Ruling Party Adviser

A standing adviser of the ruling Grand National Party faces indictment for allegedly taking a bribe of 230 million won (230,000 U.S. dollars) from a defense contractor.

Yu Han-yeol is known to have taken the money from an electronic device maker that sought to win a public auction to build a defense communication network, prosecutors said yesterday.

A probe found that Yu was introduced to the manufacturer’s president by three acquaintances, including a senior member of the party’s think tank and an aide who served on Lee Myung-bak’s presidential campaign last year.

A person close to Yu said over the phone, “When Yu failed to win the bid for the company, he wired back the money along with five million won in interest to the (think tank member) in mid-July.”

dnsp@donga.com