Did President Lee, Roh get gold seals?

By Lee Hyo-sik

Police will investigate allegations that the controversial state seal maker Min Hong-gyu gave gold stamps to President Lee Myung-bak and the late former President Roh Moo-hyun.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Monday it plans to summon Min for questioning this week to verify his claim and investigate whether he made stamps and gave them to those in power as gifts to gain favors for his business.

In a series of interviews with local media outlets last week, Min who led a production team making the official state seal in 2007 insisted that he was asked by aides to President Lee Myung-bak to manufacture a gold stamp for Lee ahead of the presidential election in December 2007.

He also asserted he was asked by Cheong Wa Dae to make a gold stamp for Roh. But Min said he does not remember whether he received payment for the two stamps or not, adding it was an honor for him to produce and present them to Lee and Roh.

Min also refused to identify who requested him to make the seals and specify exactly when he manufactured and delivered them, denying allegations that he lobbied politicians, senior government officials and other influential figures with gold stamps to win preferential treatment from them.

In response to Min’s assertions, Cheong Wa Dae and aides to the former President Roh demanded that he disclose exactly who requested him to make the seals and when he presented them.

A Cheong Wa Dae official argued that there was no way for President Lee to accept the stamp ahead of the crucial presidential election, stressing Min should make public who requested him to make the stamp and take responsibility for his ``groundless’’ claim.

A former aide to Roh also said Min’s claim was preposterous, urging him to provide further information on his assertion.

Early this month, a member of Min’s production team responsible for the manufacturing of the official state steal in 2007 claimed that the seal maker stole gold remnants and made stamps which he gave as gifts to governing party lawmakers and senior government officials during the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration.

Among the alleged recipients are two prominent lawmakers of the then-ruling Uri Party and three to four senior officials at the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.

Contrary to his claim, Min has also been accused of making the state seal, or “oksae,” of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) in a non-traditional way. He has insisted that he learned the seal making technique from the late seal master Chung Ki-ho, who made the nation’s first state seal, when he was a middle school student.

However, Chung Min-jo, Chung’s son, said on Aug. 23 that Min had visited their home in Busan only twice or so and never learned seal-making from his father.

Police raided Min’s workroom in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Aug. 27 after obtaining a search warrant from the court. Investigators confiscated documents and other materials to help them verify how Min manufactured the official state seal in 2007, the fourth since the foundation of the Republic of Korea.

MB와 노무현 당시 대통령, 금도장 받았나?

경찰은 말썽이되고 있는 국새 제조업자인 민홍규씨가 이명박 대통령과 고 노무현 전 대통령에게 금도장을 건냈다는 주장을 수사할 계획이다.

서울경찰청은 금주 민씨를 소환 금도장 제작 여부와 사업상 특혜를 위한 선물로 실세였던 사람들에게 제공 여부를 조사할 계획이라고 월요일 밝혔다.

지난 주 현지 언론사들과의 잇단 인터뷰에서 2007년 공식적인 국새 제작팀 팀장이었던 민씨가 2007년 12월 대선전 이명박 대통령 측근으로부터 이씨를 위해 금도장을 만들어달라는 요청을 받았다고 주장했다.

그는 또한 청와대로부터 노씨를 위해 역시 금도장을 만들어 달라는 요청을 받았다 고 주장했다.