Parties intensify warfare over rice subsidies scam, leaving key questions unsolved

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Answers to the main question in an escalating
corruption scandal -- which and how many ranking officials illegally pocketed
state farming subsidies -- appeared to be drifting further away Wednesday, as
parties intensified their row over the issue.
Recent reports revealed at least 500 billion won (US$367 million) in government
subsidies intended to support rice producers went to millions of ineligible
recipients over the past four years, triggering widespread anger among the
nation's farmers.
Thousands of public servants, including at least seven high-ranking officials and
four legislators, are believed to be related to the case, but authorities have
not yet released the exact number or names, fueling further disputes.
An independent probe by the parliament is on the way as rival parties agreed
Monday on the necessity of investigations separate to those by legal authorities
and the audit board. Prosecutors are currently investigating the former vice
health minister and two ruling party legislators.
Discussions on the details of the parliamentary probe, however, were going
nowhere Wednesday as parties quarreled mainly over which government is more to
blame for the growing scam.
Holding the former Roh Moo-hyun government accountable for failing to address the
errors in the subsidy system earlier, the ruling Grand National Party hinted at
calling the former president as a witness in the scheduled investigation.
"Former President Roh is one of the many that could be called for questioning,"
the party's floor leader Hong Joon-pyo said. "There is a need to get to the
bottom of suspicions that the audit board deliberately discarded audit data under
Roh's orders."
The rice farming subsidy system was established in 2005 under the Roh
administration to support low-income farmers who protested the opening of the
Korean rice market to cheaper imports. Only those who actually produce rice --
excluding those who simply own rice paddies -- are eligible for the state
subsidies.
Although the case hinges heavily on the state audit board's disclosure of the
names of the illegal subsidy takers, it claims old files -- holding names of more
than 200,000 illegal recipients -- have already been discarded last year.
Making the list again would take at least two weeks, the chief auditor told
lawmakers last week. He was to make public the board's position on the matter
later Wednesday.
While instructing thorough investigations and the retrieval of subsidies that
went to ineligible recipients, President Lee Myung-bak had also made clear
Wednesday that his government was "not directly responsible" for the widespread
abuses in the subsidy system.
Labeling the move "politically-motivated," Roh's aides said it was out of
question to call him as a witness.
"(It is) an apparent political move that is not even worth answering," said Kim
Kyung-soo, Roh's secretary.
The main opposition Democratic Party pressed for disclosure of the names of those
involved, accusing the incumbent administration of providing cover for its
officials.
"The public and the farmers will not trust a parliamentary investigation based
upon a list that has first been censored by the government," party leader Chung
Sye-kyun said. "We need a complete list and that's the bottom line."
"This is not a matter of which government is to blame," he added. "Both the
former and the incumbent governments should pay the price."
The ongoing case first made headlines after the vice health minister was found to
have applied for the money by falsely claiming she herself farmed rice. The
disgraced minister was replaced Tuesday as the fourth Cabinet member to leave the
office since President Lee was inaugurated late February.
Observers say officials and legislators who own land likely applied for the
subsidies in order to evade heavy property taxes, as the country's tax law
requires individuals to farm the land for at least eight years to receive tax
deductions. It does not require proof that applicants are the actual farmers.
Up to 280,000 of the 998,000 people who received rice farming subsidies in 2006
alone were found to be "non-farmers," according to the audit agency. Of those,
about 3,900 were listed as public servants, while 6,200 were employees of
state-run corporations.
Many of the ranking officials now under suspicion have worked for both the Roh
and the Lee administrations, implicating both sides of the political divide.