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.