Names linked to ruling party, Gyeonggi head in alleged list of payment recipients from controversial development: PPP
Lee Jun-seok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sept. 30. Yonhap
The main opposition party on Thursday urged the ruling party to accept its demand for a special counsel probe into growing corruption allegations involving the party's presidential front-runner Lee Jae-myung, citing an unidentified list of four people allegedly promised massive amounts of payments from a small asset management company at the center of the scandal.
The People Power Party (PPP) and the conservative minor People's Party, a week ago, proposed a bill for the introduction of a special counsel to investigate allegations Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee gave business favors to certain companies to help them join a highly lucrative land development project in the Seongnam city's Daejang district in 2015 when he was the city's mayor.
Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the PPP, said he has come across an unconfirmed document listing the names of four people who were allegedly promised massive amounts of payments from Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, one of the companies.
"Figures with friendly ties with the DP and those with close ties with Gyeonggi Gov. Lee were in it," he said during a press conference at the National Assembly.
The list is being referred to as the "5 billion won promise club" of Hwacheon Daeyu, which oversaw the development project.
The small company, with a combined capital of 350 million won ($297,063), has come under intense media scrutiny after it was revealed it reaped colossal gains of more than 400 billion won in dividends.
The controversy later has turned into an explosive political scandal since it was revealed PPP Rep. Kwak Sang-do's son received a massive severance pay of 5 billion won in January after some seven years of work as a mid-level employee at the company.
The amount of money handed to the 32-year-old, based on his claimed monthly salary of 2.5 million won, was more than 200 times his legally entitled retirement payment.
The PPP chief said Kwak's name was also in the list but the amount of money described did not match the amount published in the media. He added disclosing the names at the moment would be inappropriate as the information has yet to be confirmed.
"A special counsel probe must be opened to confirm the veracity of such a list," Lee said.
The bill set the scope of its proposed investigation to range from the alleged abuse of power and embezzlement by officials in the city of Seongnam, the city's land development agency and other firms involved in the controversial project, and the alleged granting of business favors as well as the suspected abuse of insider information. (Yonhap)