By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
A group of priests Wednesday accused the director-designate of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and a senior aide to President Lee Myung-bak of taking bribes from Samsung, while condemning the former chairman of the Woori Financial Group _ previously a top contender to head the Financial Services Commission (FSC) _ as unfit for public office for breaking financial regulations to assist the country's largest conglomerate.
The claims, if proven true, are likely to deal a serious blow to the three officials and the Lee Myung-bak administration. The presidential office, however, denied the allegations.
Members of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice (CPAJ) disclosed the names of the three based on the testimony of a Samsung whistleblower. They are Lee Jong-chan, a current Cheong Wa Dae secretary and former senior prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office; NIS director nominee and former justice minister Kim Sung-ho; and Hwang Young-key, the ex-chairman of Woori and a former Samsung Securities president.
The bombshell revelation came as President Lee was filling key posts in his inaugural administration. Kim has yet to be approved by the National Assembly for the top job at the NIS.
``Lee regularly received money from Samsung. When he was the head of the high prosecutors' office, he personally visited Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo's office and took money ahead of his summer vacation,'' Father Jeon Jong-hun said in a press conference.
Kim also regularly took bribes, and the whistleblower, Kim Yong-chul, sometimes delivered the money himself, according to the priest. However, he did not specify how often and how much money was given.
``Hwang was reprimanded for his negligence as Woori Bank president in failing to prevent Samsung from opening false-name accounts for the creation of slush funds,'' Fr. Jeon said.
However, Hwang, a close aide to President Lee during the presidential campaign, claimed that it was a technical issue a branch manager of Woori Bank arranged for the convenience of Samsung customers.
Jeon added that the former Woori chairman, who had been a candidate to lead the nation's top financial regulator, was unfit for the position because of illegalities committed in his former position.
Jun Kwang-woo, a former World Bank economist, was named to head the FSC, Wednesday.
``We urge the officials to voluntarily resign or refuse to take the posts, because that is the only way for them to apologize and help the new government,'' the priest said.
The CPAJ indicated that it might disclose additional people bribed by Samsung if the special prosecutor investigating the case delivers merely ``cosmetic'' results. It said the two bribe-takers are only part of a large list of the who's who in society.
Presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said the claims were ``groundless,'' adding that a Cheong Wa Dae investigation showed the two did not take bribes.
Samsung also refuted the priests' assertions, saying the group has not bribed anybody and would take action over the false claim.
The accused officials all said the claims were without foundation, adding that the probe by the independent counsel will bring the truth to light. Lee issued a statement inferring that the allegations were based on rumors or guesswork. Hwang said that a bank CEO does not and cannot oversee the opening of false-name accounts by a branch manager, adding he would sue for defamation.
An investigator of the special prosecutor's team said they would take the priests' claims into consideration in their ongoing investigation.
Earlier, the whistleblower had claimed that Samsung used the names of its executives to open accounts to keep slush funds in. He said the money was then used to bribe key government post holders and civil servants among others.
Kim Yong-chul also said last week that his list of corrupt officials included not only top administrators from the Roh Moo-hyun government and high-ranking prosecutors, but also some figures who have been named or are likely to be named as ministers or presidential aides in the new administration.
Late last year, the priests' group disclosed the names of three top public officials who allegedly received bribes: Lim Chai-jin, prosecutor general; Lee Jong-baek, then-chairman of the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption; and Lee Kwi-nam, ex-head of the Central Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.