Saenuri Party presidential nominee Park Geun-hye suffered another setback on Wednesday as one of her close associates was reported to have demanded a businessman make financial donations to help her win the presidential election.
The party decided to expel former lawmaker Song Young-sun after The Hankyoreh newspaper disclosed a recorded conversation between Song and an influential Seoul businessman during a closed-door meeting last month.
“I need 150 million won ($134,000) to secure 60,000 votes (in favor of Park) in my district,” Song, a well-known pro-Park politician, was quoted as saying during the meeting.
Song Young-sun
“There is a green belt in Namyangju (Gyeonggi Province) which you may want to invest in (if you help me out).”
The incident was disclosed one day after Hong Sa-duk, a key aide to the presidential candidate, quit the party following allegations of taking illegal political donations.
The National Election Commission on Monday filed a complaint asking the prosecution to investigate allegations that Hong received some 55 million won ($49,000) from a businessman in South Gyeongsang Province.
After failing to win her second parliamentary term in the April general elections, Song took the chairperson post for the party’s regional committee in the Namyangju constituency.
Song also demanded an extra 30 million won to hire a lawyer, as she was facing a trial over allegations of spreading false rumors during the election. She was later found guilty and handed down a fine of 5 million won by a local lower court.
Upon the businessman’s subtle refusal, she then demanded that he provide her with an apartment near the National Assembly and the Saenuri headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul.
She also complained that she failed to get the party’s nomination to run in a conservative district in Daegu because she did not offer enough money to the party’s key figures.
Song left the former Grand National Party in 2008 amid factional feuds and joined the Future Hope Alliance, a right-wing minority group loyal to Park. She returned to the party earlier this year.
During a joint session in the morning to discuss the case, the party’s two committees for political reform and ethics decide to oust Song.
“If the report is true, it is truly outdated behavior that should disappear in our politics,” secretary-general Suh Byung-soo told a meeting of lawmakers in the afternoon.
Rep. Park refrained from commenting directly on the issue but participated in the party’s political reform committee meeting on Wednesday.
“Those with greater responsibilities and authority should work harder to win the public’s trust,” she said.
“I will build a system to promote transparency in politics.“
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
