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Although accused of taking bribes, Kim Min-seok is protected by party
November 21, 2008
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In an effort to forestall Kim’s arrest, the DP is considering handing in a written oath from Kim swearing that he will cooperate with the investigation, along with a similar guarantee from party leaders. At around 8:15 a.m. yesterday, 15 prosecutors arrived at the party’s headquarters in Yeongdeungpo, central Seoul, only to be confronted by a throng of Democrats. After facing off for an hour, prosecutors left the site. Before leaving, prosecutors asked the crowd to hand Kim over, saying they intended to “investigate corruption by an individual, not by the party.” Kang Gi-jung, a senior secretary of the party, responded, “We don’t understand the need for detention. If prosecutors are sure [of the allegations], they should investigate the matter without detaining him.” A detention warrant was issued against Kim by a local court on Nov. 14. The probe is seeking to find if there is any truth to claims that he received about 470 million won ($313,333) from two businessmen on the eve of the DP’s presidential primary last year and around the April general election this year. Kim has denied all the charges and has refused to respond to prosecutors’ summonses. Instead, he started a sit-in along with other DP lawmakers at the party headquarters. The DP has dubbed the moves to arrest Kim simple interference with the opposition party. Chung said earlier that it is not a personal matter about Kim, but a wider act of oppression against the DP as a whole. In a closed meeting among DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun, DP Secretary General Lee Mi-kyung and other senior officials, they came up with the idea of submitting the oath and the guarantee. The DP will make a final decision on the issue. Despite the seemingly unified front, there is still debate within the DP over whether Kim should turn himself in. “If the party wants to avoid the misunderstanding that it is trying to protect a suspect, Kim should make up his mind and comply with the warrant,” said one DP official. It is also unlikely that prosecutors will accept the DP offer of a cooperation guarantee. “We will take special measures if Kim doesn’t respond to the warrant,” said one prosecutor. By Limb Jae-un Staff Reporter/ Im Jang-hyuk JoongAng Ilbo [jbiz91@joongang.co.kr] |
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