Saenuri Party's Chung Doo-un indicted on bribery charges

Prosecutors said Monday they have brought charges against a ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker who allegedly received bribes from the head of a local savings bank.

Rep. Chung Doo-un, formerly a close confidant of President Lee Myung-bak during the 2007 presidential campaign, has been indicted without detention for allegedly receiving a total of 440 million won (US$389,700) from Lim Suk, the chairman of Solomon Savings Bank, the prosecutors' office said.

Of that total, Chung is alleged to have received 30 million won from Lim in September 2007, with 100 million won delivered to his aide in March 2008 just before the parliamentary race. This was followed by 300 million won in October of 2007 that Chung allegedly received at the request of former lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk, who is an elder brother of the president.

Lee Sang-deuk is currently in custody and undergoing trial over the money received.

In addition, Chung, a three-term lawmaker, is suspected of having received 10 million won from Lim in April of this year. The savings bank chief allegedly gave the money so Chung would halt a probe launched by financial regulators on the bank, which has since been ordered to suspend operations.

"Where the 300 million won was spent has not been determined, although 130 million won received in 2007 and 2008 may have been used personally by the lawmaker," a source claimed.

A request to arrest Chung was sent to the National Assembly in early July, but the motion was vetoed by lawmakers. Under South Korean law prosecutors cannot detain a lawmaker while parliament is in session.

Besides Chung, prosecutors said they are in the process of reviewing information against Rep. Park Jie-won who is accused of taking a total of 50 million won from Lim in 2007 and 2008 and a total of 60 million won from the Bohae Mutual Savings Bank in 2010 and last year.

Sources said once all the information has been gathered it will decide what legal action to take against Park. The lawmaker is the present floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party. (Yonhap)