Dispute grows over Rep. Shim's allegation

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) members including its floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-tae hold placards protesting the prosecutor's search on LKP lawmaker Shim Jae-cheol at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Friday. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

An opposition party lawmaker's alleged access to confidential government budget data without authorization is intensifying confrontations between the government and the party entering into a legal battle.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said Friday it plans to file a complaint against the vice finance minister and justice minister, calling for their removal over a prosecutors' search and seizure of the Assembly office of its party lawmaker Shim Jae-cheol last week, while the finance ministry lodged a complaint against Shim on Thursday. The LKP insists the investigation of Shim is political suppression of an opposition party.

The controversy will likely become a major hurdle to holding regular parliamentary sessions when the presidential office and ruling party are pushing for ratifying the inter-Korean agreements following the inter-Korean summits held since April.

Shim, whose aides are accused of accessing data on the fiscal budget and other confidential state statistics without government authorization, raised an allegation Thursday that Cheong Wa Dae spent 240 million won ($216,469) in operational expenses improperly between May 2017 and February 2018. Shim claimed Cheong Wa Dae employees, public servants, participated in the inside meetings and received participation pay between 100,000 won and several million won for one time which goes against the finance ministry's rules.

Cheong Wa Dae, meanwhile, refuted Shim's claim immediately saying “it is not worth considering.”

Lee Jeong-do, Cheong Wa Dae's secretary who is in charge of managing paychecks for the presidential office, said Shim's accusation is false.

“There was no transition committee for the newly elected President. In the early stages, there were only a few full-time public officers at the presidential office and we had to hire temporary civilians, who are experts in their fields, to form the policy consultation committee according to the budget guidelines. We paid them by the rules up to 150,000 won per day,” Lee said in a briefing Friday.

“We paid the fees to the committee members after review and authorization under the notion the contribution should be compensated adequately based on the system.”

LKP lawmakers including its floor leader Kim Sung-tae went all out to stand against the government, holding a street protest in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office early Friday morning.

“The LKP will not be defeated against arrogant power and disclose facts no matter what happens,” LKP floor leader Kim Sung-tae said before the prosecutors' office.

“It is absurd that the chief of government organization under supervision of the Assembly filed a complaint with prosecutors against a lawmaker over what occurred in the process of securing data for a parliamentary audit.” Kim said earlier Friday.

Meanwhile, 13 ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) members asked the Assembly's ethics committee to deliberate whether to punish Shim for defaming the Assembly over his false accusation.

The punishment proposal says Shim is causing trouble for national security and the country's operation by disclosing false information to third parties.