Park sues DUP leader over scandal

Park sues DUP leader over scandal

Park Geun-hye By Chung Hee-hyung Park Geun-hye, the Saenuri Party’s leading presidential contender, sued Rep. Park Jie-won, interim head of the opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) for libel, Tuesday. The former claimed the DUP floor leader falsely linked her with a lobbyist who had worked for a suspended savings bank. Both sides have been exchanging harsh words over Park Geun-hye’s alleged involvement in a massive bribery case since last week. Park Jie-won, who served as chief aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, wields considerable influence among lawmakers hailing from the southwestern Jeolla Province, considered the home turf of the DUP. Park Jie-won The war of words began when the opposition leader alleged Park Geun-hye met lobbyist Park Tae-gyu on several occasions. The lobbyist was jailed for accepting money from the Busan Savings Bank in exchange for lobbying ranking government officials to help the bank evade regulatory sanctions. “The Prosecutors’ Office should investigate whether their meeting had anything to do with the savings bank’s bribery case,” said Park Jie-won last week, indicating a possible connection between the Saenuri Party frontrunner and the lobbyist. Park Geun-hye responded by filing a lawsuit four days later. “Politicians are supposed to only tell the truth, but repeated false statements made by my opponents compelled me take necessary measures.” “Normally, she does not try to fend off every accusation made against her. It’s not her style. But she decided to take a different approach this time to cope with the downright false statement,” said a Saenuri Party official Tuesday. In unusually strong words, she urged the prosecution to “root out negative political campaigns through extensive investigation.” Park Geun-hye added that she did not even know who the lobbyist was, let alone having met him. The DUP’s Park responded in a light manner. He said he was “delighted” by her remarks and added that “an interesting situation might develop.” He then hinted at what that might be. “Let’s wait and see, and everyone should eventually know who is indeed telling the truth,” said Park Jie-won at the DUP’s floor meeting on Tuesday. In a radio interview on Wednesday, he backed the “truth” of his allegations by claiming he had substantial evidence proving Park Geun-hye’s involvement in the scandal. Asked who provided the information of her alleged connection to the lobbyist, the DUP leader answered that he obtained it from “reliable third parties” who were in a position to judge its authenticity. “Park may think the prosecution is on her side, but we have convincing testimonies and even voice recordings,” the floor leader said. “If the allegations turn out to be true, they would raise very serious doubts about her credibility.” The failure of the Busan Savings Bank, caused by lax lending standards and investments in questionable financial derivatives, sparked a massive bank run last summer which eventually led to its suspension. Customers were forced to watch their deposits disappear overnight when the bank was unable to meet the demands for withdrawals. The prosecution’s investigation found that the bank had more than seven trillion won ($6.2 billion) in non-performing loans. Financial regulators, who were supposed to make sure that no bank lent too much money relative to its deposits, looked the other way when some of its officials were bribed. To cover up this mess, and to prevent the bank from being suspended, senior bank officials decided on an all-out lobbying drive. Several high-ranking government and bank officials have been imprisoned since, but Park Geun-hye herself had never been implicated until the DUP floor leader made his first claim over her possible connection to the scandal last week. The high-profile case was a perfect chance for Park Jie-won to prove that his nickname “Sniper” is not a misnomer. As a seasoned politician, he has earned the nickname by singling out his opponents for attack, ruining political careers on more than one occasion. He even once received a phone call from a justice ministry official who begged him “not to be too hard” on an attorney general candidate scheduled for a hearing at the National Assembly. The candidate failed to receive parliamentary approval in any case. The writer is a Korea Times intern.