By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) requested Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairman Kim Gui-hwan to resign from the party Monday because of his involvement in a bribery scandal. Ten days after the request, Kim will be automatically struck off the member list.
The GNP ethics committee also decided to punish 30 other council members who allegedly received a total of 35 million won ($34,700) from Kim in return for voting for him last month.
Kim has been arrested and police said they are considering booking the other 30. If they are fined more than 1 million won by the Supreme Court, they will lose their jobs.
The governing party's decision came after growing public criticism that the number of those bribed could be larger and that the investigation should be extended to other council members. The council is currently dominated by GNP members.
Political analysts said the GNP is trying to keep the scandal from spreading further by getting rid of Kim as soon as possible, to prevent the long-lingering nickname of Chattaegidang (bribed party) being revived again. Back in 2004, former GNP presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang was accused of receiving cash delivered by truck from large corporations such as Samsung.
The party has struggled with the party image of corruption for a very long time and does not want such a situation to happen again, observers said.
However, opposition parties said the GNP's sanction of Kim was a cover up. Rep. Kim Min-seok of the Democratic Party said, `` if the party admits to the existence of bribery, then all those involved should be eliminated.''
He also alleged that GNP floor leader Hong Joon-pyo, and lawmakers Kwon Taeg-ky, Jin Seong-ho, Yoon Seok-yong and Kang Seung-kyoo received around 5 million won each as sponsorship from Kim Gui-hwan, asking for a thorough investigation.
Besides Seoul Metropolitan Council, senior GNP members of Busan Metropolitan Council are also suspected of having bribed other council members for votes.