ID :
25855
Tue, 10/21/2008 - 19:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/25855
The shortlink copeid
Ex-president vows firm action against slush funds allegations
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Recent allegations that former President Kim Dae-jung accumulated millions of dollars of slush funds moved toward a legal battle Tuesday, as the accused president vowed to file a defamation suit against the accusing ruling party lawmaker.
Claiming Kim, South Korea's first Noble Peace Prize winner, raised secret funds
in 2006, Rep. Joo Seong-young of the ruling Grand National Party has demanded
prosecutors launch a belated investigation into the case.
The lawmaker says he received a copy of a 10 billion won (US$7.6 million)
certificate of deposit from a former legal authority in March 2006, which he
cites as evidence backing his claim. Joo disclosed the copy during a
parliamentary audit session Monday, but the authenticity of the copy remains
unknown.
Denying the allegations angrily, aides of the former president vowed to take the
case to the court.
"The former president has not raised any secret funds, nor received any dirty
money from anyone," said Kim's spokesman Choi Kyung-hwan in a press release.
"This is an evident political slander, over which we are planning to file a
defamation suit."
"It is not the first time for some irresponsible people like Rep. Joo to spread
false rumors about the former president," he added.
Rep. Joo, meanwhile, continued to press for a prosecutorial investigation on the
ex-president.
"Prosecutors should form an investigative team immediately and the former
president should face the legal charges he deserves," Joo told a radio interview
Tuesday.
Presenting the copy of the certificate of deposit as well as a bank's
confirmation letter during Monday's audit session, Joo claimed the CD likely
belonged to a shell company.
The prosecution was unable to launch an investigation back in 2006 under the Roh
Moo-hyun administration due to the close ties between the two former presidents,
Joo claims.
"I made the claims with conviction that now is the right time to go public with
the case," he told Yonhap Tuesday.
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Recent allegations that former President Kim Dae-jung accumulated millions of dollars of slush funds moved toward a legal battle Tuesday, as the accused president vowed to file a defamation suit against the accusing ruling party lawmaker.
Claiming Kim, South Korea's first Noble Peace Prize winner, raised secret funds
in 2006, Rep. Joo Seong-young of the ruling Grand National Party has demanded
prosecutors launch a belated investigation into the case.
The lawmaker says he received a copy of a 10 billion won (US$7.6 million)
certificate of deposit from a former legal authority in March 2006, which he
cites as evidence backing his claim. Joo disclosed the copy during a
parliamentary audit session Monday, but the authenticity of the copy remains
unknown.
Denying the allegations angrily, aides of the former president vowed to take the
case to the court.
"The former president has not raised any secret funds, nor received any dirty
money from anyone," said Kim's spokesman Choi Kyung-hwan in a press release.
"This is an evident political slander, over which we are planning to file a
defamation suit."
"It is not the first time for some irresponsible people like Rep. Joo to spread
false rumors about the former president," he added.
Rep. Joo, meanwhile, continued to press for a prosecutorial investigation on the
ex-president.
"Prosecutors should form an investigative team immediately and the former
president should face the legal charges he deserves," Joo told a radio interview
Tuesday.
Presenting the copy of the certificate of deposit as well as a bank's
confirmation letter during Monday's audit session, Joo claimed the CD likely
belonged to a shell company.
The prosecution was unable to launch an investigation back in 2006 under the Roh
Moo-hyun administration due to the close ties between the two former presidents,
Joo claims.
"I made the claims with conviction that now is the right time to go public with
the case," he told Yonhap Tuesday.
