Restart of Hanbo probe demanded
Restart of Hanbo probe demanded
SEOUL (Reuter): South Korea's main opposition demanded
yesterday a new probe into a loan scandal involving the failed
Hanbo Steel Co, lashing out at state prosecutors for what it
called a "disappointing" investigation.
The prosecutors said they had asked President Kim Young-sam's
son to appear at their office today for questioning over the
scandal.
The prosecutors will question Kim Hyun-chul, the president's
second son, over his libel complaint against six opposition
politicians who accused him of peddling influence in giving
massive loans to Hanbo, a prosecution official said.
Kim Hyun-chul has said he had nothing to do with five trillion
won (US$5.8 billion) worth of loans Hanbo Steel racked up before
being declared insolvent on Jan. 23.
He filed the libel complaint Tuesday.
Shin Nak-yun, vice-president of the main opposition National
Congress for New Politics, told parliament her party would ask
independent prosecutors to restart the scandal.
State prosecutors, announcing the outcome of a probe that has
lasted almost a month, indicted 10 people Wednesday, including a
former cabinet minister and three ruling party legislators, on
charges of bribery and embezzlement in the loans-for-kickbacks
scandal.
Shin said her party would seek a televised hearing during a
separate parliamentary probe, for which a special committee had
already been formed in the National Assembly.
She did not say if her party had sought to begin yet another
investigation by independent prosecutors, but a National Congress
official said the party would seek legislation to allow them to
restart the probe.
The official said the party wanted a court to appoint
respected lawyers as independent prosecutors for the new
investigation.
Senior prosecutor Choi Byung-koog said the prosecution had run
into problems because key evidence had been destroyed, including
Hanbo's account books before 1993. Cash bribes were extremely
difficult to track down, he said.
The prosecution is relying heavily on testimony by Hanbo Group
founder Chung Tae-soo, one of those indicted along with former
company treasurer Kim Jong-kook. Hanbo Steel is the flagship of
South Korea's 14th-biggest conglomerate.
Leading local newspapers and radio commentators also accused
the prosecution of failing to reveal what they called the real
powers who pressured banks into offering loans to financially
shaky Hanbo Steel.
In an editorial, the Chosun Ilbo daily said prosecutors had
"plucked only a few feathers and ignored the body" although
President Kim himself called the Hanbo scandal a "typical example
of corruption still widespread in South Korea".
"This investigation is a complete failure," Chosun Ilbo said.
"There is not a single Korean who believes the outcome of the
prosecution probe is the truth behind the Hanbo incident."
The Hanbo scandal has badly damaged the political credibility
of President Kim who has tried to project an image as an anti-
graft crusader since he took office in 1993.
"Is this the rooting out of corruption?" Shin said of the
prosecution probe into Hanbo. "Has the Kim Young-sam government
abandoned its promise four years after taking office?"
Among those indicted were members of the president's inner
circle that backed his rise to power. They are former home
affairs minister Kim Woo-suk, who quit last week before he was
charged with bribery, and legislators Hong In-gil and Hwang
Byung-tai.