No sanctuary is allowed for Sung Wan-jong list investigation

There is a new witness who says that he helped the late Chairman Sung Wan-jong of Keangnam Enterprises when he was rendering hundreds of millions of Korean won to three key politicians from the ruling and opposition parties during the presidential election in 2012. The close aid of the late chairman revealed that he, along with Sung, packed 100 million Korean won (approx. 91,744 U.S. dollars), 200 million won (approx. 183,542 dollars) and 300 million won (approx. 275,232 dollars) into three briefcases, respectively. The new witness even identified three real names involved, saying that the money is thought to be delivered to two figures in the Saenuri Party and a lawmaker in New Politics Alliance for Democracy (formerly known as Democratic United Party) given the afterward remark made by Sung.

This is the second specific testimony that the late chairman had provided political funds during the last presidential election after the statement made by former vice president Han Jang-seop of Keangnam Enterprises at the prosecution. Han said that he handed 200 million won to a person surnamed Kim (then-vice spokesperson of central committee for election polling of the Saenuri Party during the last presidential election) but doesn’t know to whom the slush fund had been delivered afterward. The testimony this time differs in that it revealed to where the money was passed. The two figures of the Saenuri Party identified by Han are included in the late chairman’s list of eight people while the named lawmaker from the opposition party was newly identified. His testimony, however, has its limitation in that he didn’t actually witness it when the money was handed over.

Of the eight figures in the list, Rep. Hong Moon-jong of the Saenuri party, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok and Busan Mayor Seo Byeong-su are assumed to have been involved in political fund scandal for the presidential election. However, only Rep. Hong is mentioned in the voice record of the late Sung while the rest two have no circumstantial evidence other than the fact that their names are on the list with amount of money involved. As new evidence comes to light and more of Sung’s aids express their willingness to cooperate the investigation, the political fund scandal for the presidential election is taking a new turn.

The testimony this time showed that the late chairman had given political fund to the opposition party as well. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, he was granted with special amnesty, not once but twice, that seemed to have no reasonable cause. Now, the investigation on the late chairman has no choice but to be expanded to investigation targeted at illegal political fund and slush fund for presidential election that involves the entire political circles. There should never be such thing as sanctuary in the prosecutions’ investigation whose duty is to provoke alarm to political circles that are spoiled rotten by the cozy relations between politics and businesses.