Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
'Sung had notebook detailing bribes'
By Kim Rahn
The late Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong left a notebook detailing to whom and when he allegedly offered bribes as well as the amounts involved, according to his former aides, Tuesday.
Prosecutors are trying to find out whether such a notebook really exists by questioning Keangnam executives and other aides to Sung.
If there is one, it will be separate from a bribery memo he left before apparently killing himself while being investigated for corruption allegations surrounding the failed “energy diplomacy” of the previous Lee Myung-bak administration.
On the memo was written a list of eight politicians, including Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo, who allegedly received bribes from Sung.
Citing an unnamed source, Yonhap News Agency reported that several days before committing suicide, Sung met one-on-one with people whom he had bribed or who had delivered bribes for him.
“He checked the bribery, asking them when and how he gave money and whether the money was successfully delivered to the targeted people,” the source was quoted as saying. “He was accompanied by an aide, who then wrote down the details in the notebook.”
According to the source, one of the people Sung met was a former journalist surnamed Yun, who allegedly delivered kickbacks to South Gyeongsang Province Governor Hong Joon-pyo.
In an interview with a local daily hours before the suicide, Sung claimed that he gave 100 million won to Hong in 2011 when he was campaigning to become the leader of the Grand National Party, the predecessor of the ruling Saenuri Party.
Yun helped Hong’s campaign at that time, when he was also an outside director of Keangnam. He later became vice president of the company.
The source said that Sung ordered a company executive in charge of finance to withdraw money and give it to Yun so that he could deliver it to Hong.
“Sung met Yun on April 7, two days before the suicide, and asked him if he delivered the money to Hong and when and how he did so. His aide then wrote down what Yun said,” the source said.
Prosecutors also confirmed that the money was sent to Yun through transactions at bank accounts of related figures.
Hong, however, vehemently denies this allegation, claiming he once met Sung briefly during the campaign but was not close to him. Rather, he indicated the possibility that Yun took the money himself, not delivering it as Sung wanted.
But Yun denies this, saying he will tell everything he knows if prosecutors call him in for questioning.
Another local daily reported that besides the notebook, Sung left a diary in which he recorded the names of politicians he met and the dates and places of the meetings for the last 11 years. But it added that his meeting with them does not directly mean he gave them bribes.
Besides Yun, many influential figures were named as outside directors at Keangnam, showing Sung sought their power in business.
They include former Finance Minister and Gyeonggi Province Governor Lim Chang-yuel; former Seoul Regional Tax Office head Jeon Hyeong-su; former Government Administration and Home Affairs Minister Lee Keun-sik; former National Election Commission Secretary-General Lim Jwa-sun; and several others from the construction ministry, financial regulators and the prosecution.