Former aide raising allegation against ex-president's wife
Chung Doo-un
Kim Yoon-ok
By Lee Kyung-min
An estranged aide to former President Lee Myung-bak said Friday that a scandal of an “explosive nature” concerning Lee’s wife nearly cost him the presidential election in 2007. This is the latest development further troubling the former president amid an intensified prosecution investigation into various alleged wrongdoings involving his family members and close aides. Lee is expected to be questioned as early as mid-March.
The aide, Chung Doo-un, said he was only able to keep the matter involving former first lady Kim Yoon-ok away from media exposure after he paid “hush money” from his own pocket after receiving a promise in writing to “mobilize full support of any kind” after Lee took office. Chung was removed from Lee’s innermost circles after he criticized Lee Sang-deuk, an elder brother of the ex-president, for exerting enormous power and influence over his sibling. He did not disclose details of the scandal, only saying Kim made a mistake of great magnitude “that could have cost Lee the election.”
Those who received the money, Chung said, came to him after Lee took office, asking for “help,” with publishing work. He referred them to former Vice Culture Minister Shin Jae-min, but they kept contacting him. Chung said he then sent them to a police officer working as a Cheong Wa Dae official at the civil affairs office, but did not say whether they were “compensated.”
Chung is only one among many former close aides to Lee Myung-bak. Kim Hee-jung, a key former aide of 15 years _ now under arrest _ said that he gave $100,000 he got from a National Intelligence Agency (NIS) covert fund to a former female Cheong Wa Dae official who then gave it to the former first lady. She reportedly spent it on designer bags and other personal expenses. In 2007, the former first lady was embroiled in an allegation raised by Liberty Korea Party (then the Grand National Party) Chairman Hong Joon-pyo that she wore diamond rings on her toes on overseas trips to avoid customs service inspection and high taxes.
Kim Hee-jung said he and Kim Paik-joon, another key aide to Lee, separately delivered the NIS cash, but did not say who he gave it to, only saying “Lee Myung-bak is the only person who knows the truth.” The unexpected confession against Lee is understandable, Chung said, given Lee did not attend the funeral of Kim’s wife who committed suicide out of financial difficulties, two months before Kim was released after serving a 15-month prison term following a bribery conviction. He was found guilty of receiving 150 million won from a savings bank head in return for relaxing government regulations in favor of the minor financial institution. Chung said Kim Hee-jung served as a faithful aide to Lee for a long time and the latter leaving him unable to even support his wife was too harsh a treatment for his service.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said Samsung Group is believed to have paid 2 billion won in addition to $3.7 million (4.5 billion won) as a retainer to a U.S. firm, Akin Gump, of which Samsung was a major client. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office questioned former Samsung Card Vice President Choi Do-seok, who managed the firm’s financial issues alongside former Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo who confessed the firm under his leadership paid legal fees that helped Lee Myung-bak recover 14 billion won in what could have been a failed investment in return for a presidential pardon for group Chairman Lee Kun-hee. The pardon, Dec. 31, 2009, was four months after he was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years for embezzlement and for managing a slush fund, the former vice chairman said. While the pardon was given so the then-International Olympic Committee chairman could play a vital role in hosting the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, it raised a lot of criticism as he was the only one granted a pardon at the time.