Prosecutors probe alleged money-for-nomination scandal in opposition party

Prosecutors said Monday they have sought arrest warrants for four people over allegations they exchanged money to receive help in their nomination bids for the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) ahead of April's parliamentary elections.

Yang Kyeong-suk, the former head of the Internet radio station Radio 21, is suspected of taking billions of won (millions of U.S. dollars) in so-called investment money from three lawmaker hopefuls in return for promising to help them win the DUP's nominations, prosecutors said.

The three former lawmaker hopefuls, identified only by their last names Lee, Lee and Jeong, work as the head of an organization affiliated with a Seoul district office, the chief of a tax firm and a businessman, respectively.

The revelation comes only weeks after prosecutors launched a probe into a scandal involving two members of the ruling Saenuri Party, including Rep. Hyun Young-hee. The lawmaker is suspected of securing a proportional representative seat in the April elections after paying 300 million won ($264,250) to Hyun Ki-hwan, then a member of a party committee responsible for nominating candidates.

The ruling party expelled both members in an apparent bid to minimize the scandal's impact ahead of December's presidential election.

The Central Investigation Unit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which handles large bribery cases, apprehended Yang, 51, and the other suspects last weekend after a tip-off that the former lawmaker hopefuls were complaining about getting neither a nomination nor profits in return for their "investments."

The former lawmaker hopefuls told prosecutors Yang had promised them nominations through ties to current members of the DUP.

Yang, who previously worked as an aide to a former chief of the party, has denied the allegations, saying the money provided by the three hopefuls was for non-election related investment purposes, prosecutors said.

The DUP rejected the allegations and accused the prosecution of trying to "water down" the scandal surrounding the ruling Saenuri Party.

"(The allegations) are not true at all," DUP spokesman Jung Sung-ho said at a press briefing. "This case deals with the alleged corruption of an individual and has nothing to do with the DUP or its nomination process."

The Saenuri Party, on the other hand, urged the prosecution to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations.

"(The prosecution) should thoroughly investigate why Yang received billions of won, whether that money is related to the DUP's nominations, and check if it reached the hands of DUP officials," Rep. Lee Sang-il, a Saenuri spokesman, said in a statement.

"The DUP should not try to put political pressure on the prosecution but actively cooperate with the investigation."

The Justice Ministry, meanwhile, submitted an arrest motion for Rep. Hyun to the National Assembly on the suspicion she bribed her way into the parliament.

By law, prosecutors need approval from the Assembly in order to arrest a lawmaker while the parliament is in session.

The motion is expected to be reported to Thursday's plenary session and put to a vote within 72 hours according to relevant laws.

(Yonhap)