Ruling Saenuri Party officials on Wednesday called for the resignation of a local scholarship foundation chief to limit the political fallout for its presidential hopeful ahead of the December elections.
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Han Kwang-ok, chief vice chairman of the party's national integration committee, said it would be for the best if Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation head Choi Phil-lip made up his mind about his future as soon as possible.
"The foundation's board of directors, and in particular Choi, should decide (on resignation) so as not to cause unnecessary problems for Saenuri's presidential candidate Park Geun-hye," the former chief of staff to late President Kim Dae-jung and ex-chairperson of the Millennium Democratic Party said.
The scholarship foundation, which critics claim was stolen from a local businessman in 1962 by soldiers, has been a source of confrontation between Saenuri's presidential contender Park Geun-hye and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP).
The 60-year-old candidate is the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee who created the public foundation, but Jeongsu has received flak as "stolen property" that should either be returned to the original owners or be run by a "neutral" party.
Park was chairwoman of the foundation's board from 1994 through 2005 and has been attacked for her alleged involvement and control of the scholarship foundation. The incumbent chairperson is a former aide to late President Park.
The Saenuri hopeful has repeatedly said she exercises no control over the foundation, and is not in any position to dictate how it should be run.
Han said that while the Saenuri contender effectively has no legal ties to the foundation, many people seem to think there is a connection, which is causing complications.
This view was echoed by Ahn Dae-hee, a former Supreme Court justice and current head of party's political reforms special committee.
"There really is no legal connection between the Saenuri presidential candidate and the scholarship, but the public seems to think otherwise," he said.
Ahn said that if Choi wants to help Park, it would be best if he resigned so as to remove any misunderstandings.
The committee chief, who is in charge of creating policies to implement sweeping political reforms, said that the recent controversy surrounding the possible sale of the scholarship's holdings in a local newspaper and TV station posed no problems, if it follows set rules and reflects the view of the foundation's board.
The DUP, meanwhile, stepped up its attacks on Park and the foundation.
In a meeting of senior officials, party chief Lee Hae-chan said the plan to sell off stakes and use the money to help students pay for collage tuitions is an unacceptable move aimed at helping the Saenuri contender.
Rep. Park Jie-won, the party's floor leader added Park is trying to use property stolen by her father to pay for her election campaign.
"She received billions of won from the foundation for 10 years," the lawmaker said, arguing that Park still controls the foundation from a distance.
The party also said in an official press release that the foundation should desist from taking politically motivated actions. (Yonhap)