Conflict escalates over bribery scandal

Partisan conflict is escalating over the main opposition Democratic Party`s allegation that former National Tax Service chief Han Sang-ryul lobbied the president`s elder brother to retain his post.

"I can`t stop expressing concerns over DP members patching up the details of the case to make it seem related with someone of high authority," said Rep. Chang Kwang-keun, secretary-general of the ruling Grand National Party.

"They must restrain themselves from presenting the irrational stories and words of a single former tax official."

DP Supreme Council member Song Young-gil on Thursday publicized the transcript and recordings provided by a former NTS official named Ahn Won-goo, who was pressured to leave his post in July.

Ahn, currently jailed for involvement in a bribery scandal, told Song during his reception time in jail earlier this week that he met with GNP lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk twice in January and March last year to convince the president`s elder brother that Han would be the appropriate fit for NTS chief.



Han, who was appointed to the post by late former President Roh Moo-hyun, wanted to keep his post under the administration of President Lee Myung-bak.

"Ahn said he was able to meet with Lee with the help of Lee`s son, who is close to him," Song said.

Saying that the DP is acting irresponsibly by releasing Ahn`s secretly-recorded tapings and relying only on his one-sided testimony, GNP deputy floor leader Kim Jung-hoon said the opposition party may be attempting to earn some time for the National Assembly`s budget deliberation.

"The opposition should wait until the prosecution`s investigation is over before moving further. It should concentrate on the budget review process in the meantime," he said.

Han, the former NTS head, stepped down from his post in January in the wake of news reports that his wife may have given an expensive painting to the wife of his predecessor Jeon Goon-pyo in January 2007 before Han was named as NTS chief.

Han, who is currently in the United States, strongly denied all accusations against him, including those that he sent Ahn to the president`s brother and he requested 300 million won ($257,577) from Ahn in return for helping him get promoted.

According to Ahn`s testimony, Han told Ahn at the time he was trying to raise 1 billion won in secret funds to be delivered to a powerful ruling party figure.

"When the right time comes I will offer my explanation and refutation, going further to ask responsibility to those who defamed me and the NTS if necessary," he told reporters in his office at a university in New York. "But I don`t have plans to return to Korea right now because I believe the truth will win over lies."

An aide to Lee also went against Ahn`s statement by saying there was no way the two could have conducted such discussion as Ahn is not a familiar figure to the six-term lawmaker and the two have never met.

(sharon@heraldm.com)



By Cho Ji-hyun