Ruling party to oust 2 scandal-ridden members

By Kim Rahn, Lee Tae-hoon,

The ethics panel of the ruling party recommended Monday the expulsion of two party members embroiled in a money-for-candidacy scandal in an apparent attempt to minimize the negative fallout in the lead up to the December presidential election.

The scandal erupted after the National Election Commission (NEC) alleged last week that Hyun Ki-hwan, then a lawmaker and member of the party's nomination committee, received 300 million won ($265,000) from Rep. Hyun Young-hee in return for a proportional representative seat ahead of April's general elections.

Rep. Kyung Dae-soo, head of the Saenuri Party’s ethics committee, said the panel unanimously agreed to expel both Hyuns during a plenary meeting for having caused “extreme harm” to the conservative party and inflicted damage to “the party's dignity.”

He added that the ethics panel’s ruling on incumbent lawmaker Hyun will require approval by at least two-thirds of the Saenuri Party’s 149 lawmakers.

The fate of former lawmaker Hyun Ki-hwan will be decided at a meeting of the party's Supreme Council.

If expelled, the two Hyuns will be banned from returning to the party for the next five years.

However, Rep. Hyun will be able to keep her legislative seat as an independent because proportional lawmakers are only stripped of their National Assembly seat only when they voluntarily withdraw their party membership.

Park Geun-hye, who was the party’s leader at the time, apologized for the scandal and pledged to implement “strict punishment” on those responsible at a joint speech session with her rival presidential hopefuls.

"Regardless of whether the allegation is true, I apologize to the people and party members for such action,” the leading presidential contender of the Saenuri Party said. “If the scandal is true, it is a serious crime that is unacceptable”

Meanwhile, prosecutors summoned Rep. Hyun for questioning over the candidacy-buying allegations.

The first-term lawmaker presented herself at the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office. Before the prosecution called, she had planned to turn herself in.

Prosecutors also called Rep. Hyun’s former aide, Jeong Dong-geun, as a witness.

They let her return home late in the night but plan to call on her again for additional questioning, saying the NEC raised many suspicions about her.

An overseas travel ban was already slapped on the figures involved _ the two Hyuns, Jeong, and Cho Ki-moon, a former party member based in Busan and an aide to former lawmaker Hyun.

While Jeong claims he delivered the money from Hyun Young-hee to the former lawmaker through Cho, the latter denies it.

Jeong testified Rep. Hyun gave him a paper bag containing 300 million won in cash at her husband’s office in Busan on March 15.

He said she then ordered him to deliver this to Cho and he did so at a restaurant in Seoul Station. He submitted to the prosecution a photo of the paper bag he took with his cell phone.

Cho admitted he went to Seoul that day, but said he didn’t meet Jeong.

Following the contrasting testimonies, the prosecution is confirming whether Jeong really came to Seoul from Busan on the day via KTX, and whether Jeong and Cho were in the same region by checking their cell phone locations in cooperation with mobile service providers.

They are also looking into whether Cho and former lawmaker Hyun called each other and exchanged text messages, because Jeong claims they did after receiving the money while Cho and the former lawmaker claim they didn’t contact each other on the day.

Prosecutors earlier raided homes and offices of the four figures over the weekend and examined seized documents and computer files. They also looked into money the flow of their bank accounts but found no evidence that 300 million won was withdrawn from accounts related to Rep. Hyun.