Ruling party wages war on opposition lawmaker over remarks on first lady

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- The ruling party referred an opposition lawmaker to a
parliamentary ethics committee Tuesday for remarks alleging that the first lady
is implicated in a high-profile lobbying scandal.
The Grand National Party (GNP) said it will seek punitive measures against Rep.
Kang Gi-jung, accusing him of making groundless claims.
Kang of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said during a parliamentary
audit Monday that first lady Kim Yun-ok accepted money from Nam Sang-tae, the
president of a local shipbuilding company, in February in return for using her
influence to help him retain his post.
The state-run Korean Development Bank, the largest shareholder of the Daewoo
Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., later decided to give Nam consecutive
terms as a result of the lobbying through the first lady, the lawmaker claimed.
Kang's remarks immediately drew angry reactions from the presidential office,
Cheong Wa Dae.
"Opposition lawmakers have repeatedly raised suspicions irresponsibly and engaged
in political offensives using their privilege of parliamentary immunity, but this
time, they have gone too far," GNP's floor leader Kim Moo-sung said.
"I think it's an unheard-of event that the wife of the incumbent president was
slandered and insulted for things that are untrue."
The National Assembly, upon a referral from the ethics committee, can vote to
strip a lawmaker of his or her parliamentary seat.
The DP's floor leader, Park Jie-won, defended that Kang had the right to raise
questions as a legislator.
"The overreaction by the GNP and Cheong Wa Dae is an insult to the National
Assembly," he said. "It's absolutely incomprehensible."
Park did back down, however, saying the party will be "prudent" in referring to the first lady.