Gov. Hong headed for prison

By Kim Rahn

South Gyeongsang Province Governor Hong Joon-pyo drinks water during a news conference at the provincial government office in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday. / Yonhap

Will the prosecution be able to put South Gyeongsang Province Governor Hong Joon-pyo behind bars?

Prosecutors say they have secured enough evidence to prove that Hong accepted illegal political funds from the late former Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong. Planning to indict him, they are now considering whether to also request an arrest warrant.

Considering the prosecution’s usual treatment of politicians in corruption cases, a warrant request is likely. However, Hong is not an “ordinary” politician ― he was a star prosecutor before entering political circles, and thus is well aware of the prosecution’s investigative methods and logic.

Since the allegations emerged, prosecutors have presented the evidence they collected, which Hong has refuted totally. Hong has often criticized prosecutors for lacking logic, which they have countered. It now remains to be seen whose logic is sounder.

The prosecution said Sunday it has secured evidence showing Hong met one of Sung’s aides, former Keangnam Vice President Yun Seung-mo, who allegedly delivered 100 million won from Sung to Hong in June of 2011 when Hong was campaigning to become the leader of the Grand National Party, the precedent of the ruling Saenuri Party.

Hong has claimed he met Yun many times in 2010 but only once in 2011, and in November, not in June.

One of reasons prosecutors are considering an arrest warrant is the suspicion that an aide to Hong tried to persuade Yun to lie to investigators after the scandal emerged. If the suspicion is true, the chance of a warrant request is high because any persuasion would be considered an attempt to destroy evidence. The prosecution summoned the aide on Monday for questioning.

While prosecutors strongly believe Yun’s testimony which they say is consistent, Hong has raised the possibility of Yun taking the money himself without delivering it as requested.

The governor said he recently received a letter from a person, whose identity was withheld, that Sung also asked Yun to deliver 100 million won to Hong when he was campaigning for the governor post in December of 2012, but Yun kept the money.

“I didn’t submit my 2011 schedule because Yun may change his testimony according to the schedule to frame me,” he told reporters on Monday, indirectly criticizing the prosecution’s strong trust in Yun.

“I believe the prosecution will not make a conclusion hastily based only on Yun’s testimony,” he said.

After Friday’s summons, prosecutors said that Hong failed to explain how he prepared funds for the 2011 campaign. They suspect that Hong used the kickback from Sung for the deposit paid to the National Election Commission.

But Hong said his wife had collected part of his salary without his knowledge when he worked as a lawyer from 1995 to 2005, and he paid the deposit from his wife’s “secret fund.”

Before becoming a lawyer, he worked for the prosecution between 1983 and 1995. He gained a reputation as a corruption fighter after leading a graft investigation in 1993 into former lawmaker Park Chun-un, an aide to former President Roh Tae-woo. The 1995 soap opera “Hourglass” featured the scandal, helping Hong rise to fame.

Now, there will undoubtedly be a lot of pressure for junior prosecutors to arrest their former senior.

In the meantime, the prosecution plans to summon former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo as early as this week for questioning over his alleged bribe taking from Sung. It interrogated one of Sung’s aides, who allegedly accompanied the Keangnam Enterprises chief when he offered 30 million to Lee at his election camp for a by-election in South Chungcheong Province in April of 2013.