K-Biz chairman faces probe for vote-buying

Park Sung-taek K-Biz Chairman

By Lee Hyo-sik

The newly elected head of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (K-Biz) is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly bribing voters to win the post in February.

K-Biz Chairman Park Sung-taek is suspected of violating the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperatives Act, which forbids candidates from buying votes.

Some of Park’s close aides have already been found guilty of orchestrating the money-for-votes scam to get him elected.

The chairman returned home late Thursday night after 14 hours of questioning at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office.

Investigators grilled him about whether he instructed his confidants to give money to those holding voting rights and engaged in other illicit activities during the campaign.

According to the prosecution, Park denied all charges. When leaving the prosecutors’ office, he told reporters he never offered money to anyone to buy votes.

The Seoul National Election Commission, which supervised the K-Biz election, referred Park and several of his aides to the prosecution, alleging they violated the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperatives Act.

Park and four other contenders fiercely competed to win the much-privileged post, which represents more than 3.3 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

K-Biz is one of the country’s five major business associations and its head is granted the privileges of a minister when attending state events.

The chairman, who receives no salary but can spend as much as 10 million won on expenses each month, exerts absolute influence over how K-Biz spends its 1.4 trillion won annual budget.

The prosecution plans to indict Park on charges of violating the act and if he is sentenced to a prison term or is ordered to pay more than 1 million won in fines, he will lose the chairmanship. The association would then have to hold another election.

His conviction would tarnish K-Biz’s image and send shock waves through business circles. Park was a former chairman of the Korea ASCON Industry Association, which advocates the interests of asphalt and concrete producers.

“We have been instructed by the chairman not to comment on the ongoing prosecution’s investigation,” a K-Biz spokesman said. “The allegations took place before Park became the chairman, so as a K-Biz employee I am not in a position to discuss the matter.”

But the spokesman expressed hope that the probe comes to an end soon so that the chairman can focus on doing his job.

According to the prosecution, Park’s confidant, surnamed only Chi, was sentenced by the Seoul Southern District Court in April to an eight-month prison term, suspended for two years, on a charge of offering 2 million won to an individual before the K-Biz election. Chi is the chairman of the Jeju ASCON Industry Association.

In addition, a K-Biz vice chairman surnamed Maeng was indicted for allegedly offering 5 million won in cash to a voter on behalf of Park before the election.