Top Prosecutor Nominee Denies Bribery Allegation
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
The prosecutor general nominee has denied accepting bribes from the Samsung Group, saying he would not give up the chance to become the top prosecutor.
The nominee, Lim Chai-jin, faced repeated questioning about the allegation at a National Assembly confirmation hearing Tuesday to review his qualification for the post.
The hearing opened a day after the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice (CPAJ) claimed Lim and a former and incumbent prosecutor took money from the conglomerate regularly. The claim was based on the testimony of Kim Yong-chul, a former executive at Samsung's legal department.
To the many questions regarding the allegation, Lim kept answering that he did not remember. ``I have never met Kim, and I don't know how to defend myself against a groundless claim,'' he said, adding an investigation will verify the truth.
Kim claimed Lee Woo-hee, the former president of Samsung affiliate S1, was in charge of providing money to Lim. Lee and Lim are high school alumni. When lawmakers asked how often he meets with Lee, Lim said he rarely does.
When asked whether he played golf with Lee and other Samsung officials at the Benest Golf Course that Samsung operates, Lim said he did not remember.
Faced with a series of ``I don't know'' answers, lawmakers criticized Lim's ambiguous attitude, demanding that he agree to voluntarily undergo an investigation.
``It is possible that after taking office, you may become the `second Jeon Goon-pyo,' the former tax office head who stepped down after being arrested for bribery,'' said Rep. Joo Sung-young of the conservative Grand National Party.
Rep. Chough Soon-hyung of the minor Democratic Party also asked Lim if he has any intention withdrawing from the prosecutor general's nominee position for ``his own and the prosecution's honor.''
``If I become the prosecutor general, I'll accept the prosecutors' opinions about my position and the probe. If I retire my nomination due to groundless claims, it will not be desirable for the prosecution and the nation,'' Lim said.
In the meantime, Kim In-guk, a member of the CPAJ, said that besides Kim's testimony, they have documented evidence to prove Lim and other prosecutors' accepted money from Samsung.
The priest, however, did not disclose the document. ``We will consider disclosing it if the prosecution investigation probe is not conducted properly,'' he said.
The CPAJ also met with civic groups including the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society, which jointly filed a complaint with the prosecution last week to demand an investigation of Samsung.
Pledging to jointly address the issue, they decided to call for an independent prosecutor to investigate the scandal, saying the case is too complicated for a regional prosecutors' office to deal with.
They said they would collect people's signatures to urge the adoption of the independent prosecutor, and hold a massive rally in downtown Seoul, Saturday.
The Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements, a civic group, demanded the company apologize to the public for its illegalities in a press conference before Samsung headquarters in central Seoul ``The case should be probed by an independent prosecutor for fairness, and the group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and involved executives should be arrested,'' the alliance said.
Regarding Monday's disclosure of allegedly bribed prosecutors, former S1 president Lee and Cheil Industries Chairman Je Jin-hoon filed a lawsuit against the former insider alleging slander, after Kim claimed they had managed the bribe handouts.
Samsung claimed again that the document, which Kim claimed is an internal paper made in 2000 for the illicit wealth accumulation of chairman Lee's son Jae-yong, was made in 2003 in preparation for a trial for his alleged illegal dealing in convertible bonds of Everland.
``It is doubtful as to why Kim and the priests' group made such claims even though they do not know who made the document and for what purpose,'' lawyers for the group said.