Politicians Walking a Prison Tightrope
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Prosecutors have summoned and questioned several lawmakers, including Rep. Park Jin of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), this week, to investigate whether allegations that they received cash from Park Yeon-cha, CEO of Busan-based shoemaker Taekwang, are true or not.
Third-term lawmaker Park, chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, faces a critical chapter in his political career.
Park has denied the allegation but prosecutors have confirmed that he received hundreds of millions of won.
He has sent clear signals of his willingness to declare a bid for the GNP primaries to select the presidential candidate for the 2012 presidential election on several occasions, and his career plan seemed to be on track, as he won the election to select the Assembly panel chairmanship last year.
Prosecutors indicated more lawmakers will be called in for questioning next week, indicating that politicians, as Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo once said, are ``walking a tightrope along a prison fence.''
Back in 2001, Kim, who was then a GNP lawmaker, made the remark to warn politicians about the fine line between legal political donations and bribes, as this is blurred under the current political system.
Observers said Kim's insight offers an answer to the question of why ambitious politicians, who are seeking to become leaders of the nation, ruin their political careers by taking bribes.
In a phone interview with The Korea Times, Prof. Kim Hyong-joon of Myongji University, in Seoul, said cash-based politics, along with the blurred line between legal donations and bribes, are two possible factors that can explain politicians' taking such cash.
``Those who have ambitious career goals know that they need money to achieve them. They also think that secret agreements will never be disclosed and this could prompt them to go for the deal,'' said Kim.
The professor indicated that sophisticated lobbying skills could also contribute to politicians' involvement in bribery scandals.
``It may lead politicians to think they are receiving political donations, not bribes from slush funds, as their donors are high-profile business leaders such as Park and therefore they never think that they are involved in shady deals, '' said Kim.
Embattled Taekwang CEO Park reportedly used sophisticated lobbying tactics, choosing a restaurant in New York owned by an ethnic Korean as the main venue for his deals with lawmakers.
Prosecutors arrested Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the Democratic Party on charges of taking 200 million won (approximately $ 150,000) from Park on several occasions. The jailed Lee ― a key confidante of former President Roh Moo-hyun ― has indicated his withdrawal from politics.
Park also took overseas business trips to China and Vietnam to curry favor with politicians. Prosecutors reportedly found that Park created slush funds there and gave portions of the money to several of them.
Sources said the novel lobbying technique made it difficult for prosecutors to trace links in financial transactions between Park and the politicians.
Political observers said sophisticated tactics could mislead politicians to believe business leaders were giving political donations, not bribes.