Ex-KCC chief Choi new embarrassment to president dogged by corrupt aides


One of President Lee Myung-bak’s most trusted aides is suspected of having taken bribes from a business developer for several years, dealing a serious blow to an embattled president already suffering from corruption scandals involving his aides.

Choi See-joong, a former journalist from Dong-A Ilbo, headed the research organization Gallup Korea from 2004-2007 before joining Lee’s camp.

Choi, who studied alongside of Lee’s older brother Rep. Lee Sang-deuk at Seoul National University, and is said to have advised the president since 1992 while he began to make political advances.

In 2008, the president named him the first chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, an influential state-run body overlooking the regulations on telecommunication and broadcasting industries.

;Opposition parties criticized Choi for his “lack of neutrality“ and the designation was rejected at the National Assembly. Lee named Choi to the post regardless, prompting organizations and civic groups, including the National Union of Media Workers, to demand that Choi voluntary step down.

Choi took a second term as the KCC chairman in 2011, drawing heated debate over suspicions surrounding him. Opposition parties questioned his alleged involvement in real estate speculation, gift tax evasion and getting his son an alternative term for the obligatory military service.

Choi also faced an angry outcry from progressive political parties and civic groups in 2010 over the selection of the three new general-programming operators, for which all three major conservative newspapers were chosen.

Lee, however, stood by Choi throughout the controversies, until this January, when Choi resigned from his post over allegations that his aide received money from Kim Hak-in, an operator of a local education institution, to help him obtain a seat as a board member for the state-run EBS station. The aide was also implicated in another bribery incident involving lawmakers in charge of media policies in 2009.

The latest scandal directly placing Choi at the receiving end of the suspected bribery is expected to place Lee in a deeper quagmire, as the lame-duck president faces an ethical predicament over an increasing number of corruption scandals involving his aides.

According to news reports, Choi was familiar with a business developer and broker, both surnamed Lee, in the early 2000s, when the construction of a distribution complex was planned at a former cargo terminal site located in Yangjae-dong, Southern Seoul.

Some news reports claimed that the developer handed over a total of 6.15 billion won ($5.4 million) on 19 different occasions to Choi and former deputy prime minister Park Young-joon through the broker in return for their influence in having the construction approved by Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Choi admitted that he has been receiving financial support from the broker, but claimed the money was irrelevant to the construction project. He claimed the money was instead used in holding popularity polls for the president during his presidential race.

If the money delivered from the developer to Choi is proven to be relevant to Seoul City’s approval of the project, city officials in charge are likely to face a probe as well. Seoul City approved the change of the use of land in May 2006, and permitted the construction in 2009.

Cheong Wa Dae, in the meantime, showed discomfort with Choi’s remarks that could potentially connect the suspected bribery with President Lee’s political funds.

“At present, it cannot be accurately confirmed whether former chairman Choi received the money from the developer and how he used it … we will watch how the investigation plays out as the prosecutors are looking into the case,” a high-rank Cheong Wa Dae official was quoted as saying in local news reports.

The official was also quoted as saying that it was unheard of that the money from the developer was used in the presidential race for Lee and that even if so, it could not be assumed to be illegal funds.

Several former aides of Lee have been charged with or suspected of bribery, mainly in relation to the high-profile corruption scandal surrounding Busan Mutual Savings Bank.

Former commissioner of the Board of Audit and Inspection Eun Jin-soo was sentenced to one year and 6 months in prison earlier this year for receiving 70 million in bribes, while Yoon Man-seok, a former aide to President Lee while he was serving as a lawmaker, was arrested last July for receiving 100 million won from a Busan Mutual Savings Bank broker.

Former senior secretary for public relations Kim Doo-woo was also sentenced to a prison term for bribery from a Busan Mutual Savings Bank lobbyist, while the prosecution launched an investigation in February into allegations that Rep. Lee Sang-deuk received bribes in exchange for favors in bank evaluations for Prime Savings Bank.

Former culture and sports minister Shin Jae-min, in the meantime, is under arrest on charges of receiving bribe from SLS chairman Lee Kuk-chul.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)