Protect or dump?
People's Party to probe allegations against members
People’s Party co-chairman Rep. Ahn Cheolsoo speaks during a party meeting, Monday. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
The minor opposition People’s Party has created a panel to conduct its own investigation into corruption allegations raised by the prosecution and the country’s election watchdog against three of its lawmakers.
The move comes amid growing speculation that the party’s founder and current co-Chairman, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, may have willfully ignored their alleged wrongdoings in the lead-up to the April general election.
The prosecution’s ongoing investigation into the three lawmakers ― Reps. Kim Su-min, Park Sun-sook and Park Joon-yung ― could affect Ahn’s potential bid to run in the 2017 presidential election.
Some party members have claimed the probe is politically mobilized.
Supreme Council member Rep. Lee Sang-don who was a law professor at Chung-Ang University is leading the four-member investigative panel, spokesman Rep. Son Kum-ju said, Monday.
Three other members are former prosecutors Reps. Park Joo-sun and Kim Kyung-jin, and lawyer, Rep. Kim Sam-hwa.
The National Election Commission (NEC) filed a complaint with the prosecution, Thursday, against Rep. Kim Su-min, one of the party’s proportional representatives, accusing her of receiving up to hundreds of millions of won in political contributions earlier this year.
Kim, 29, currently the youngest National Assembly member, secured a seat through the proportional representation system in the April poll.
According to the election watchdog, two local advertisement companies, which were at the time in charge of the party’s campaign promotion of candidates for non-electoral lawmakers, transferred 238.2 million won ($203,000) to an account owned by a design company that Kim used to run.
The detailed use of the money has remained unclear, but the NEC suspected Kim of using the money to fund her campaign.
The two companies allegedly signed a bogus contract with Kim’s design company, called “Brand Hotel,” to provide the money, according to the NEC.
“Primarily, the party’s investigative team will investigate allegations raised by the NEC, and then will extend the scope of the probe,” spokesman Rep. Son told reporters.
Regarding another suspicion that the illicit funds could have also flown into the party, Son said, “We will look into it, too.”
Son said the team will move on to other allegations after confirming whether Kim’s bribery allegation was true.
There are allegations that co-Chairmen, Reps. Ahn and Chun Jung-bae, could have been aware of the case earlier than when the NEC filed a complaint, but overlooked it.
Critics also raised the need for investigating how Kim was given the seventh slot among the party’s candidates for non-electoral lawmakers.
Rep. Lee, who leads the investigation team, earlier told reporters that whether the probe will be extended to the process of nominating candidates for non-elected lawmakers depends on the will of Rep. Ahn.
Ahn recruited Kim as part of a strategy to nurture young legislators.
Kim’s father, Kim Hyun-bae, was also a former lawmaker.