Opposition Calls for Probe Into Bribery Case Involving First Lady
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Leaders of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Friday sought to block the possible negative fallout from a corruption scandal involving a cousin of first lady Kim Yoon-ok as it is expected to tarnish the image of both Lee and the governing party.
Prosecutors said the 74-year old relative of the first lady was indicted for receiving 3 billion won from lawmaker hopeful Kim Jong-won who was seeking to become a ruling party candidate in the April 9 elections.
Kim was not included in the list of 50 GNP candidates before the election.
The corruption scandal has broken out at a time when public uproar showed signs of receding after the U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN) reinstated Korea's sovereignty over the Dokdo islets early Thursday at the instruction of President George W. Bush.
GNP spokesman Cha Myeong-jin said that a zero-tolerance policy would be applied in corruption cases involving relatives of the President.
Rep. Cha underlined that the presidential office referred the case to the prosecution for investigation.
Leaders of the opposition parties, meanwhile, stepped up their attack of the ruling GNP by linking the case to the troubled ethics of Lee and his team.
Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Chung Sye-kyun urged GNP leaders to announce a code of conduct and pledge before the public that it would not repeat the same mistake again.
Rep. Park Joo-sun of the DP put forth an independent counsel to investigate whether the attempt to buy public office was an isolated case or not.
Minor opposition parties urged the GNP to make public the selection criterion for candidates for the proportional representation system.
Rep. Park Sun-young, spokeswoman of the conservative Liberty Forward Party, said prosecutors should investigate the flow of money and find if the bribe had anything to do with the GNP's selection of candidates to run in the election on the proportional representation system.
Park also urged the GNP to make public the selection criteria of the candidates.
Renewal of Korea Party spokeswoman Kim Ji-hye said attempts to buy an elective post shouldn't be tolerated under any circumstances, urging the ruling party to make it clear if the money had an impact on selections.
Democratic Labor Party spokesman Park Seung-eop said the corruption case raised questions over the ethics of the Lee administration and urged the prosecutors to investigate the case independently.