Opposition Drops Lawsuits Against GNP Lawmakers
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) said Wednesday that it will drop lawsuits filed against a few Grand National Party (GNP) lawmakers during last year's presidential campaign.
The party's action came a week after the governing GNP announced that it would quit seeking legal action against several UDP lawmakers including Park Young-sun and former lawmaker Chung Bong-ju.
The UDP took legal action against two GNP lawmakers, Chung Doo-un and Cha Myung-jin, claiming they spread false information regarding UDP legislators and the financial scam allegedly involving Kim Kyung-joon, a former business partner of President Lee Myung-bak. Lee was then the GNP candidate running in the Dec. 19 presidential election.
Chung and Cha alleged that a number of UDP lawmakers, including Park Young-sun, met Kim in Los Angeles where he was serving a jail term, and asked him to disclose to the press what he knew about the then frontrunner candidate Lee.
Kim reportedly claimed that Lee was the real owner of the scandal-ridden business, BBK. Park denied that she met Kim and asked him to disclose his relationship with Lee.
Two close aides of Lee, Chung and Cha, made the allegation after Park and her fellow lawmakers said that Lee was the owner of BBK and was involved in stock manipulation.
Lee denied it, saying his business partnership with Kim ended before the financial scam took place.
GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup said last week his party would not pursue civil and criminal cases it filed against the UDP lawmakers to seek reconciliation with the opposition party at the National Assembly.
Despite the two major parties dropping of their suits, prosecutors said they will need to keep investigating the lawmakers allegedly involved in the dissemination of false information.
A defamation suit can be halted if those who filed the charge express their willingness to drop it, however, that is not the case regarding the spread of false information, they said.