By Yi Whan-woo
The prosecution secured testimony from an entrepreneur claiming to have offered bribes to now-outgoing U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon while investigating a corruption scandal in 2009, but covered it up, according to a media report, Thursday.
This is the latest in a series of allegations being raised against the outgoing U.N. chief since he virtually declared his presidential bid.
Citing a source close to Park Yeon-cha, the founder of Busan-based shoemaker Taekwang, the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper reported that Park confessed to the prosecution that he gave a total of $230,000 to Ban between 2005 and 2007.
The investigation was initially intended to look into suspicions that Park gave bribes to then-President Roh Moo-hyun during his five-year term ending February 2008.
The prosecution had been under criticism that the probe was politically motivated against Roh by his successor Lee Myung-bak.
The case concluded after Roh committed suicide in May 2009 during the investigation.
After securing testimony from Park, prosecutors pressed the businessman not to divulge anything concerning Ban, according to the daily.
"Park was very upset by the way the prosecution carried out its probe. He wanted to talk about it with his friends and reveal it to the public as well," the source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
"But the prosecution forced him not to do so amid media reports that the investigation was politically orchestrated. I heard the prosecution did not look into Ban for some reason, possibly because it did not want to have the double burden of investigating Roh and Ban at the same time."
It speculated the prosecution's maneuver was done to avoid tarnishing the country's reputation, citing that Ban was in the third year of his first five-year U.N. term.
The source said prosecutors used to visit Park early in his jail term but no longer remain in touch with him. Park served two-and-a-half years in prison and was released in February 2014.
The source said Park is believed to be keeping mum about allegations against Ban because he still suffers from trauma over the 2009 investigation and is afraid of facing bribery charges again.
The allegation was first raised by the weekly magazine Sisa Journal last week.
It reported that Park gave $200,000 to Ban in May 2005 when he was serving as the Korean foreign minister. It said Park delivered an additional $30,000 to Ban through a restaurant owner in New York City in March 2007, two months after Ban began his job at the U.N.
Ban's side denied the allegations and vowed to take legal action against the Sisa Journal.
The prosecution secured testimony from an entrepreneur claiming to have offered bribes to now-outgoing U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon while investigating a corruption scandal in 2009, but covered it up, according to a media report, Thursday.
This is the latest in a series of allegations being raised against the outgoing U.N. chief since he virtually declared his presidential bid.
Citing a source close to Park Yeon-cha, the founder of Busan-based shoemaker Taekwang, the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper reported that Park confessed to the prosecution that he gave a total of $230,000 to Ban between 2005 and 2007.
The investigation was initially intended to look into suspicions that Park gave bribes to then-President Roh Moo-hyun during his five-year term ending February 2008.
The prosecution had been under criticism that the probe was politically motivated against Roh by his successor Lee Myung-bak.
The case concluded after Roh committed suicide in May 2009 during the investigation.
After securing testimony from Park, prosecutors pressed the businessman not to divulge anything concerning Ban, according to the daily.
"Park was very upset by the way the prosecution carried out its probe. He wanted to talk about it with his friends and reveal it to the public as well," the source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
"But the prosecution forced him not to do so amid media reports that the investigation was politically orchestrated. I heard the prosecution did not look into Ban for some reason, possibly because it did not want to have the double burden of investigating Roh and Ban at the same time."
It speculated the prosecution's maneuver was done to avoid tarnishing the country's reputation, citing that Ban was in the third year of his first five-year U.N. term.
The source said prosecutors used to visit Park early in his jail term but no longer remain in touch with him. Park served two-and-a-half years in prison and was released in February 2014.
The source said Park is believed to be keeping mum about allegations against Ban because he still suffers from trauma over the 2009 investigation and is afraid of facing bribery charges again.
The allegation was first raised by the weekly magazine Sisa Journal last week.
It reported that Park gave $200,000 to Ban in May 2005 when he was serving as the Korean foreign minister. It said Park delivered an additional $30,000 to Ban through a restaurant owner in New York City in March 2007, two months after Ban began his job at the U.N.
Ban's side denied the allegations and vowed to take legal action against the Sisa Journal.
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