Surveillance scandal set to expand

Cheong Wa Dae denies involvement; key Lee aides summoned

The probe into the illegal surveillance scandal is revealing an increasingly wide web of corruption that could engulf the Lee Myung-bak administration.

New evidence emerged this week suggesting that an organization was established in July 2008 at the Prime Minister’s Office specifically to protect Lee from “political attacks.”

The document, titled “Command Structure of Public Official Ethics Division,” states that the president, or his chief of staff, will receive reports from the division.

The paper states that its purpose was to induce individuals appointed under the Roh Moo-hyun administration who are “resisting the MB policy direction” to resign from public office, referring to the president by his initials.

There were 39 such individuals at state-run companies and the audit departments of relevant organizations could be employed in achieving the goals, according to the document.

Parts concerning the reporting hierarchy further implicate top presidential officials in the scandal and their intentions to keep the activities secret.

The documents state that while the division will come under the prime minister, its activities will be overseen by a “secret line with single-minded loyalty to the VIP,” referring to the president as the VIP.

However, those close to Lee continue to deny all connections between the president and the activities of the PMO’s division.

“The illegal surveillance and Yim’s term in office do not overlap, but I know all about the reports he received while in office. And, the president said that he had no knowledge of the matter when (Yim) checked with him,” an aide to former presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee told Herald Media.

Yim served as the chief of staff from July 2010 until December 2012. He added that Yim also checked all records of the president’s one-on-one meetings with officials, and did not find records regarding the possibility that former Presidential Secretary for Employment and Labor Lee Young-ho met the president in private.

The former presidential secretary for employment and labor claims that he was the “body” behind Cheong Wa Dae’s involvement in the case.

Whether or not the president was aware of the developments, it appears that some of his closest allies were involved.

On Thursday, the prosecutors summoned Park Young-joon, former vice minister of knowledge economy and one of the most influential figures in the Lee administration, for questioning over suspicions that he had received reports from the PMO’s ethics division.

The prosecutors are said to be focusing on whether Park had a hand in ordering PMO officials to destroy related evidence in 2010.

Park, now under arrest on charges of taking bribes from the developer of the shopping mall Picity, was one of the most influential officials for much of Lee administration due to his ties with the “Yeongpo Line.”

Yeongpo Line is the term used to refer to a group of high-ranking officials who come from Yeongil of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province where Lee grew up.

The main opposition Democratic United Party has renewed its attack on the president following the revelation of the “command structure” documents.

“The documents compiled by the public official ethics division on Aug. 28, 2008, prove that President Lee is the body of the civilian surveillance case,” chairman of Democratic United Party’s emergency council Park Jie-won said Thursday.

“Cheong Wa Dae should not make more excuses and the president, who should take responsibility, should make a clear statement now that such documents have been revealed.”

Meanwhile, the prosecutors have uncovered evidence implicating the ethics division in placing opposition party lawmakers under surveillance.

On Monday, the prosecutors raided the home of former ethics division official Jin Kyung-rak’s sister, and confiscated an external hard drive containing about 400 related documents. According to the prosecutors, the documents include those suggesting that the division pressured executives of state-run companies and civil servants to resign.

In addition, the recovered documents are said to include evidence that the division placed opposition party lawmakers under surveillance, and orders to look into acquaintances of DUP’s Rep. Baek Won-woo and Rep. Lee Seok-hyun.

The scandal first came to light in 2010, when a businessman revealed that he was placed under surveillance by the division after he posted materials expressing negative views about President Lee Myung-bak.

In the ensuing investigations, it was revealed that officials of the division destroyed relevant evidence and led to several PMO officials removed from office and receiving prison terms.

The investigation, however, was reopened earlier this year when Jang Jin-su, a former PMO official convicted of destroying the evidence, disclosed that he was acting under orders from the presidential office.

Jang then went onto reveal that high-ranking officials within the presidential office had bribed him to stop him from disclosing further information.

According to Jang, he was given 50 million won ($43,000) that originated from the presidential secretariat for civil affairs.

The main opposition DUP has also been making announcements related to the case.

According to Rep. Park Young-sun of the DUP, former chief of the PMO’s ethics division, Lee In-kyu and other officials visited Cheong Wa Dae on 195 occasions between July 16, 2008 and June 23, 2010. The records revealed by Park show that Lee and other PMO officials met with a number of officials including the then chief of presidential secretariat for civic affairs Kwon Jae-jin, and Jang Seok-myeong, who is a senior official in the presidential secretariat for civil affairs.

While the presidential office denies any involvement, the scandal has had significant fallout for the Lee administration accelerating the process of the ruling party distancing itself for the president towards the end of the five-year term.

“Those responsible for breaking the law must be punished severely regardless of the level of their office,” Saenuri Party spokesman Lee Sang-il said.

The statement, issued Wednesday, is seen as a preemptive measure for protecting the party from possible damage resulting from the scandal.

Cheong Wa Dae’s ploys to stay out of the focus have also failed to function fully as intended.

In attempting to distance itself from the scandal, Cheong Wa Dae in April tried to shift the focus onto the previous administration, saying that 80 percent of the related data were gathered before President Lee Myung-bak took office.

The move, however, did not have the desired effect with much of the documents from the previous administration proving to have been legitimately compiled by the police.

In addition, the move led to Rep. Kim Young-hwan of the Democratic United Party accusing Cheong Wa Dae of attempting to influence the April 11 general elections.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldm.com) 

Prosecution indicts Lee’s cronies on bribery

The prosecution on Friday indicted Choi See-choong and Park Young-joon on bribery charges as part of its investigation into an influence-peddling scandal involving the members of President Lee Myung-bak’s most trusted circle.

Choi, former chairman of the Korea Communications Commission known as Lee’s mentor, is accused of taking a total of 800 million won between July 2006 and February 2008 in bribes from a local developer seeking construction rights for his mega mall project.

Park, a former vice minister of knowledge economy also known for his close ties to the president, is suspected of receiving 160 million won from the same developer, Lee Jeong-bae, in exchange for influence-peddling to help him win construction permits.

Park allegedly received the cash through a broker -- a Pohang-based businessman named Lee Dong-yool -- first while serving as chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s political affairs bureau in 2005-2006, and later while working for then-presidential candidate Lee in 2007. The Seoul Metropolitan Government was responsible for issuing the permit.

He is also accused of receiving 100 million won from a Kosdaq-listed firm in return for business favors in a separate case.

“A total of five have been indicted, four of them with physical detention, with regard to our investigation so far into the Picity development project,” said Lee Keum-ro of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, announcing the mid-term results of the investigation.

Others on the indictment list are Kang Cheol-won, a former official with the Seoul Metropolitan Government who is suspected of taking 30 million won in bribes and the broker and his chauffeur who allegedly pocketed 94 million won by blackmailing Choi.

Prosecutors said they will continue tracing bank accounts of Park and others, after a largest amount was found with suspected links to other shady deals.

“We will continue tracing bank accounts of Park’s and will extradite Lee Dong-jo should any suspected illegality is found,” SPO’s Lee said.

Lee Dong-jo is a close friend of Park now saying in China. He is suspected of money laundering for Park.

By Lee Sun-young
(milaya@heraldm.com)

Eurozone crisis and Korea

Eurozone crisis and Korea

Government should not be complacent The gloom created by the eurozone crisis in the aftermath of Greece’s general election looms large around the world. Greece is now teetering on the brink of default as the country’s political parties failed to form a coalition government owing to different views on austerity measures imposed in return for an emergency bailout. They agreed to hold a new election on June 17 but whether Greece will honor its earlier commitments is unclear because the Coalition of the Radical Left, or Syriza, which opposes the loan agreement with international lenders, is most likely to take power in the new poll. Most recently, the European Central Bank (ECB) has reportedly halted its provision of liquidity to some Greek banks, raising concerns that the country may have to exit the euro. Greek President Karolos Papoulias said about $900 million was withdrawn from Greek banks on Monday alone. The global financial markets have taken a direct hit from the escalating debt crisis in Europe. World stocks remained low as a whole and the euro hit a four-month low Wednesday. U.S. stocks gave up early gains on positive U.S. economic data to sink lower the same day. Seoul’s financial markets also dipped Wednesday, weighed down by the mounting eurozone crisis. The KOSPI nosedived more than 3 percent from the previous day to barely hold the 1,840 mark. The Korean won finished at 1,165 won to the U.S. dollar, down 11.6 won from Tuesday’s close. The panic eased a bit Thursday but investors are wary of developments in Europe. Europe’s latest debt woes have put Korea on alert as the crisis may spread to other bigger European countries such as Italy and Spain. Local policymakers are playing down the shock from Greece, saying Korea’s economic fundamentals remain strong despite global market uncertainties. Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Shin Je-yoon told an economic review meeting that the Korean economy has been mostly unscathed so far although there are downside risks. ``We have sufficient foreign exchange reserves and don’t see any problem in securing liquidity. There is no need to overreact to the developments in Europe,’’ Shin was quoted as saying. Nonetheless, there is no room for complacency. The fact that Korea’s exports to the eurozone during the first four months of this year dived 18 percent from a year earlier is clearly a warning signal to its economy. Furthermore, the economic slowdown in China, Korea’s largest trading partner, must be a double whammy. We urge our policymakers to keep a close watch on capital flows, especially European funds, so we can act preemptively to secure liquidity abroad and prevent credit crunches domestically. Last but not least, the government should pay keen attention to economic growth. As things stand now, the central bank’s growth projection of 3.5 percent for this year appears unachievable. In this case, the government will have to seek ways to stimulate the economy artificially.

Samsung may innovate chip-making process

Samsung may innovate chip-making process

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics said Friday that it has developed and patented methods to use graphene in field-effect transistors (FETs) that may revolutionize computers. The breakthrough has been published in the online edition of Science Magazine and nine patents have been secured. Samsung said in a statement that devices with FETs could be used to give computers 100 times the computing power of conventional silicon chips. The company named the device a ``barristor.’’ ``The development means Samsung is speeding up efforts to develop future chip-making technology. We are positively able to leapfrog to next-generation technology ahead of any other firm,’’ said Park Seung-joon, a senior researcher at the company’s advanced institute of technology in a media briefing at its headquarters in downtown Seoul. Graphene is considered one of the strongest materials ever-measured, an improvement upon and a replacement for silicon, and is a highly conductive material, experts said. Much has already been made of graphene’s potential. It can be used for anything from composite materials such as carbon-fibers to electronics. ``The timing of commercialization of the device will be earlier than expected as the development is a minor upgrade from current chip-making technology,’’ said Samsung. Billions of transistors inside a memory chip uses silicon as the main material and that’s why thinner is better in chip-making technology. For example, a memory chip using 20-nanometer level technology is far better than a chip with 30-nano technology in terms of power consumption and cost. Samsung is the world’s first to mass-produce high-end and advanced chips using 20-nanometer level technology. But there are predictions that it could effectively handle even a thinner chip-making technology below 10-nanometers. Scientists and chip experts are also saying that finding a replacement for silicon is still a long way off as devices with graphene have only ever been demonstrated on a ``very small scale.’’ ``The goal for Samsung Electronics is to replace silicon eventually, meanwhile it has to find effective applications that can reap more advantages based on existing materials,’’ said Park.