By Kim Se-jeong
Staff reporter
The illegal surveillance scandal surrounding the Prime Minister's office seems to be becoming more complex, as an opposition lawmaker Friday raised fresh suspicion against a member of Yeongpohoe.
Rep. Park Jie-won of the opposition Democratic Party announced Friday that Yeongpohoe, the fraternity loyal to President Lee Myung-bak consisting of senior civil servants from Lee's hometown of Pohang, had Ra Eung-chan, chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, evade an investigation into transaction of his 5 billion won ($418 million) to Park Yeon-cha, a former CEO of shoemaker Taekwang, who is now serving a prison term for bribing the late President Roh Moo-hyun's family.
Quoting the whistleblower, Park said, "One senior member of Yeongpohoe must have put pressure on the head of the Financial Supervisory Service to have Ra escape from the investigation. Unless he (the senior member) comes forward to make a confession, I will do it."
In response, the ruling Grand National Party said Park's accusation is groundless and politically driven. There was no immediate reaction from Ra.
However, it is expected that the truthfulness of the lawmaker's statement Friday will have an impact on the domestic political landscape.
During the probe into Chairman Park's activities in late 2008 and early last year, the authorities found a transaction of 5 billion won from Ra to Park. Ra and Park said the transaction was made for a personal reason, far from illegal. The case was closed completely with former President Roh's suicide.
The seed for the whole thing goes back to when two opposition lawmakers claimed Lee In-kyu, the head of the ethics section at the premier's office, ran surveillance against an individual who had posted an anti-government video on their websites.