By Park Si-soo
The cash-for-votes scandal that is rocking the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) has spilled over into the main opposition camp, putting the morality of contenders for the leadership of the Democratic United Party (DUP) into question.
Some contenders, who claim they are clean, are calling for a thorough investigation into the scandal to weed out an “obsolete form of electioneering.”
The suspicion flared up Monday when a DUP official overseeing the party’s preparation for its upcoming national convention told a media outlet that a supporter of one of the nine contenders doled out cash in envelopes to eligible voters in a move to “buy” the leadership post. All contenders have vehemently denied their involvement.
Last month, the newly created party selected a former prime minister and eight other candidates to run in a new leadership race set for Jan. 15.
Nearly 800,000 DUP members will cast ballots online and offline in the event to select a leader who will map out the party’s strategy for the April 11 parliamentary elections, largely viewed as a litmus test for public sentiment ahead of the December presidential poll.
The official said each envelope contained between 500,000 won and 5 million won ($430-$4,300) and many were delivered over a dinner to some regional heads of the party ahead of a preliminary race on Dec. 26.
The whistle-blower didn’t identify who did this, but the revelation immediately came as a great embarrassment to the nine contenders and their party.
The DUP reacted swiftly.
“If any contender is confirmed to have been involved in any illegal electioneering, we will disqualify the person and seek legal measures,” spokesman Oh Jong-sik said hours after the scandal surfaced. The party launched a fact-finding team and pledged to investigate the case thoroughly.
Three contenders, with a relatively weak support base, put their weight behind the probe, saying in a joint statement that they will join forces to eliminate the practice. They underscored they had nothing to do with the scandal.
Cash in envelopes has been a favorite tool for bribery in the country, where graft scandals involving influential politicians and businessmen remain an almost annual event.
“This scandal came as a great embarrassment,” Lee Hak-young, Moon Sung-keun and Park Yong-jin said in a joint statement. “We take it for granted that the party has launched a fact-finding team to unearth the truth.”
They pledged that they will “dig out the truth with no-holds-barred” if they succeed in landing in the leadership circle through the convention.
Oh said Tuesday that no hard evidence backing the suspicion had been found yet, adding that the fact-finding team will work hard to conclude whether it was true.
The latest scandal comes at a time when the DUP’s biggest rival, the GNP, is already reeling from a separate vote-buying scandal implicating its former leader Park Hee-tae, who currently serves as National Assembly speaker. Park denies the allegation.
The prosecution has started investigating the case at the request of the GNP.