Park Young-june Former vice-minister

President’s aide allegedly involved in other scandals

By Kim Rahn

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for former Knowledge Economy Vice Minister Park Young-june Thursday for allegedly taking bribes from a businessman in return for facilitating a Picity development project in southern Seoul.

Attention is now on whether the “King’s man” _ Park’s nickname for wielding great power behind the scenes due to his close relations with President Lee Myung-bak _ will finally be put behind bars after slipping out of several other allegations previously due to a lack of evidence.

The prosecution questioned the 52-year-old for 18 hours from Wednesday through early

Kang Cheol-won Former Seoul official

Thursday morning. Prosecutors suspect Park received hundreds of millions of won from former Picity chief Lee Jeong-bae in exchange for helping the firm develop a cargo terminal into a larger-sized logistics complex including shopping facilities.

Park is suspected of having received some 200 million won from Picity through a middleman between 2005 and 2007. He worked at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, which had the authority to approve the development project, from 2005 to 2006.

Lee told the prosecution that he also sent 1 billion won to the middleman’s bank account in January 2008 as Park said he needed money to purchase an apartment.

The middleman said he himself spent the money, but prosecutors suspect part of it was delivered to the former vice minister.

To confirm the allegation, the prosecution will soon quiz a businessman, JE&Tech chief Lee Dong-jo who allegedly managed and laundered Park’s kickbacks.

Prosecutors also sought an arrest warrant for another former Seoul City official, Kang Cheol-won, on charges of receiving tens of millions of won in kickbacks from the middleman.

Kang, who was political affairs chief under then-Mayor Oh Se-hoon, said earlier that Park had called him in 2007 and asked him for an update on the development approval process.

Park is also allegedly involved in the government’s illegal surveillance of citizens critical of President Lee.

The prosecution raided the home and office of Park’s former aide on Wednesday. The aide, surnamed Lee, was secretary to Park when Park was at the Prime Minister’s Office, which allegedly masterminded the surveillance scheme and later destroyed evidence following orders from Cheong Wa Dae.

Prosecutors suspect that when the first probe into the case was conducted in July 2010, Park bought a cell phone under the name of an acquaintance of the secretary and talked over the phone about evidence destruction with a former Cheong Wa Dae staffer who also used a phone registered under a false name.

Earlier this year, the prosecution investigated the allegation that the foreign ministry’s energy envoy illegally used his influence to reap huge gains in a stock price rigging scheme involving a diamond mining project in Cameroon.

It was alleged Park also played a role in inflating the stock price of the mine developer, CNK International, by pressuring the ministry to issue a press released based on exaggerated data on the mine’s value.

Park was also allegedly bribed by SLS Group Chairman Lee Kuk-chul who offered money to politicians to help his business.

The chairman claimed he spent 4 to 5 million won on “entertaining” Park at a bar in Japan in May 2009 when Park, at the Prime Minister’s Office at that time, visited the country.

As the group faced the prosecution’s investigation, the businessman claimed he sought Park’s influence to avoid the probe. Park admitted to drinking at the bar with an SLS official in Japan but claimed he paid the bill.