Prosecutors launch investigation into illegal rice subsidies

By Kim Boram
SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors on Monday launched an investigation into
two ruling party lawmakers believed to have illegally received state farm
subsidies after a civic group lodged a complaint.
The mushrooming scandal, initially sparked by a media report that the current
vice health minister had received subsidies intended for low-income rice farmers,
has grown into an explosive corruption investigation involving thousands of
public servants and two ruling Grand National Party lawmakers, Kim Hak-yong and
Kim Sung-hoi.
Facing the opening of the Korean rice market to cheaper imports, then President
Roh Moo-hyun established the subsidy system in 2005 to give support money to rice
farmers.
But at least 500 billion won (US$384 million) in the government subsidies is
believed to have gone into the pockets of tens of thousands of ineligible
recipients over the past four years.
Seoul-based progressive civic group Jinbo Corea submitted a complaint to
prosecutors to open an investigation into the two lawmakers on Friday, saying,
"The two politicians should take legal and political responsibility, as they
apparently violated the law and caused substantial harm to farmers and Korean
taxpayers."
"We will handle the complaint... according to normal legal procedures," an
official of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said. "We will decide
on the punishment after we complete the probe."
Prosecutors, however, decided to postpone their planned investigation against
Vice Health Minister Lee Bong-hwa filed by a minor opposition party until after a
government inspection into other subsidy recipients.
There has been a heated debate during the parliamentary sessions about who should
bear the responsibility for the rice subsidies scandal and the fact that the
audit board has been reluctant to disclose the list of recipients' names.
While the conservative ruling party blames the former government of failing to
address the errors in the subsidy system earlier on, opposition parties accuse
the incumbent administration of providing cover for officials who they say broke
the law.
After a heavy partisan clash, the National Assembly decided on Monday to start an
independent probe.