Canal Report Investigation Continues
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Police found that a report by the Seoul Development Institute about the pan-national inland waterway was handed over to an outside group in their investigation into the election law violation allegation involving research on the waterway.
The canal project is one of the flagship campaign pledges of Lee Myung-bak, former Seoul mayor and a leading presidential contender of the main opposition Grand National Party.
It was found earlier that the institute, an affiliate of Seoul city government, conducted research about the project during Lee's mayoral term. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has probed the case as Lee may be subject to violation of the election law if he ordered the research in order to develop his presidential campaign pledge while in the mayoral office.
According to the police, Kang Man-soo, former president of the institute, said during Wednesday's summons that he handed over the research report to a society for the study of the waterway.
He said he gave it to them because the society said it would hold a symposium about the issue, according to the police.
The police will soon summon members of the society to question them about the purpose of their acquisition of the report.
``As researchers of the institute are not public servants, their involvement in the election may not be punishable. We are focusing on whether the city government ordered it or any city officials jointly worked on the research,'' a police official said.
The society, a study group formed last September by experts interested in the waterway project, includes professors and Chang Seok-hyo, former deputy Seoul mayor.
Chang, head of the society, also headed the Cheonggyechon restoration project during Lee's term, and many of those professors are now working as advisors to the Lee camp.
Chang told Yonhap News Agency that after leaving the vice mayor position last year, he heard from Kang that the institute conducted a research report about the project and he received the report.
He denied the allegations, saying the report had no influence on Lee's pledges because many of the research results were different from the society's study.