Assembly speaker quits over vote buying

Assembly speaker quits over vote buying

Rep. Park Hee-tae leaves his office in Seoul after resigning as National Assembly speaker, Thursday. / Yonhap Prosecutors to summon presidential aide next week By Chung Min-uck National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae resigned Thursday taking responsibility for a cash-for-votes scandal during the 2008 leadership race of the then governing Grand National Party, now renamed the Saenuri Party. The former party chairman’s two-year term as Assembly speaker was to end in May. “I apologize to the people. I decided to step down from the post as speaker holding myself responsible for the matter,” said Park in a statement read by his spokesman Han Jong-tae at the National Assembly. “I will bear everything by myself. I will take full responsibility.” The announcement came after Park’s former secretary Koh Myung-jin confessed he received money returned by Rep. Koh Seung-duk prior to the party’s leadership election on July 3, 2008. Park’s former aide said he reported it to Kim Hyo-jae, current senior secretary for political affairs to President Lee Myung-bak. Kim was chief campaign manager for Park at the time. According to Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office, the former secretary also confessed that Kim got angry after being told about the returned money. Kim allegedly ordered him not to reveal the truth during the on-going prosecution investigation. Following the testimony, prosecutors plan to summon Kim and Park next week for questioning about the case. The scandal erupted in early January after Koh revealed he was offered an envelope containing 3 million won ($2,685) from Park’s campaign office before the ruling party’s leadership race. Later, he alleged that other party members could have been bribed as well since one of his staff members saw many similar envelopes inside a shopping bag when the incident took place. Analysts say the widening investigation into the cash-for-votes scandal will deal a severe blow to the ruling party ahead of the April 11 general election as the opposition parties will capitalize on the case. “Park’s resignation came too late,” said Rep. Park Young-sun, a member of the main opposition Democratic United Party’s (DUP) decision-making Supreme Council. “Kim Hyo-jae should also resign.” “If the prosecutors don’t find out the truth behind the case involving the Lee administration we will do it ourselves,” said Han Myeong-sook, chairwoman of the DUP. Concerning the Assembly speaker’s resignation, Rep. Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri Party was quoted as saying, “The resignation came a little late but I am glad that he made the difficult decision.”