Kickback Allegations
It's Time to Appoint Special Counsel for Samsung Case
The confession by a former Samsung Group legal team head about the conglomerate's alleged slush fund and provision of kickbacks to prosecutors has sent shockwaves throughout the country. The bombshell revelation is raising suspicion about the corrupt business practices of South Korea's top business group. It is too early to tell the truth about such a confession. But the corruption allegations have dealt a severe blow not only to the family-controlled chaebol but also to the law enforcement authorities.
Kim Yong-chul, who served as the chief of the legal department at the Samsung Restructuring Office between 1997 and 2004, launched the revelation campaign Oct. 29. On behalf of him, the progressive Catholic Priests' Association for Justice (CPAJ) claimed that Samsung had placed huge sums of money into bank accounts using the borrowed names of Kim and other executives to create the slush fund. Then on Monday, the association disclosed Kim's allegation that three top-ranking prosecutors had regularly taken kickbacks from Samsung in return for offering favors to the conglomerate.
It is shocking that one of the three named is Lim Chai-jin, the prosecutor general nominee. The others are Lee Jong-baek, a former senior prosecutor and now chairman of the presidential Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption; and Lee Kwi-nam, head of the Central Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. They immediately denied all the allegations. But growing public suspicion has little sign of dying down.
In an interview with a TV channel early this month, Kim claimed that Samsung had provided a total of one billion won in kickbacks to some 40 prosecutors every year. If his claims are proven true, each prosecutor took an average of 25 million won per year. The money is seen as none other than a bribe. What's more surprising is that he claimed the group offered much more money to politicians, ranking officials, judges and even journalists in a desperate attempt to cover up its illegal business practices.
It is a pity that Samsung, the self-proclaimed global business conglomerate, has allegedly engaged in window dressing to create a slush fund to bribe politicians, bureaucrats, regulators and prosecutors. According to Kim, Samsung has tainted the nation with bribes to maintain the power of the ``Samsung Empire.'' The conglomerate has already been criticized for making illicit political donations during the 2002 presidential race, offering bribes to prosecutors, and illegally transferring wealth from Chairman Lee Kun-hee to his children.
The Samsung scandal is emerging as one of the key campaign issues ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election. President Roh Moo-hyun is likely to incur political damage from the allegations against prosecutor general-designate Lim. Lawmakers of both governing and opposition parties launched a confirmation hearing on Lim on Tuesday. They must thoroughly review his qualifications and his alleged acceptance of money from Samsung.
Especially, the moral image of the Roh administration could be further tainted amid a series of corruption scandals related to his presidential aides and the tax office chief. The prosecution has started investigating the Samsung scandal at the request of a civic group and a lawyers' association. But people are not sure whether the prosecution can make a fair and thorough investigation into the case because of Kim's bribe-taking allegations against many prosecutors.
Against this backdrop, we call for the appointment of an independent counsel to shed light on the scandal. We have to bear in mind that the nation cannot become a true democracy without eliminating corruption.