Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Key figure in forged BBK letter questioned
By Yi Whan-woo
The author of a forged letter in the so-called BBK scandal was quizzed by the prosecution Tuesday.
Shin Myung, whose letter triggered suspicions of conspiracy by the then-ruling liberal party in the 2007 presidential election against then-leading conservative candidate Lee Myung-bak, returned to Korea, Monday. He turned himself in to the prosecution Tuesday.
The 51-year-old dentist living in the United States told reporters that he will submit evidence to the prosecution that President Lee’s aides actually made him forge a letter saying the liberal party politically engineered the sudden visit of Kim Kyung-joon.
Kim’s visit had been considered a huge blow for Lee, as the Korean American businessman claimed that the then-leading candidate was behind the high-profile stock-rigging scandal surrounding the now-defunct investment firm BBK.
“I will commit myself to the prosecutor’s probe to reveal the truth,” Shin said. “I will reveal every single piece of evidence, the proof that conservative party members intervened in writing that forged letter, and also the proof of how Lee’s aides tried to interrupt me from telling the truth.”
He indicated Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, a running candidate with ruling Saenuri Party for the April’s parliamentary elections, was behind the forgery of the letter. Hong had filed a lawsuit against Shin for spreading groundless rumors.
The letter was written to Kim Kyung-joon during the lead-up to the presidential election back then, and it reads, “Your deal with the ‘Big House’ (meaning the Roh Moo-hyun government) won’t change the situation. You will be exploited anyway.”
The written message appeared around the time when Kim visited Korea, and the conservative party members claimed the progressive government had orchestrated the Korean American’s visit to deal a setback to Lee.
The letter originally was believed to be written by Shin’s elder brother Shin Kyung-hwa, who was a cellmate in the U.S. with Kim who was already serving a jail term for the so-called BBK scandal.