Party spokesman says floor leader innocent of taking bank bribes


Rep. Park Jie-won, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party, did not respond to the prosecution’s summons for questioning on Thursday.

The savings banks investigation team of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office demanded that Park show himself at 10 a.m. to answer questions on bribery allegations.

The lawmaker, however, refused to comply and instead attended a party meeting held at the same time.

While he refrained from speaking on the issue, other members of the party accused the prosecution of political bias.

“Prosecutors are deceiving the people into believing that Rep. Park is guilty of crimes that he did not commit,” said party spokesperson Park Yong-jin.

“This is the exact same strategy they used to bring down former President Roh Moo-hyun and former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.”

Vice floor leader Rep. Park Ki-choon accused the authorities of turning a blind eye to the illicit election fund scandal involving the current administration.

The prosecution is planning to make a second request for Park but may request an arrest warrant from the court, should he continue to not cooperate, according to officials.

In that case, the court is to submit a motion asking for parliamentary consent to the arrest, based on the National Assembly Act which grants lawmakers immunity from arrest during session.

The motion, however, is likely to fail as it did in the case of Rep. Chung Doo-un of the ruling Saenuri Party last week.

The DUP floor leader is suspected of taking almost 100 million won ($87,804) from Solomon Savings Bank chief Lim Seok in 2008, according to prosecutors.

Also, former officials of the Bohae Savings Bank claimed to have delivered bribes to Park during an irregularity probe in 2010-2011, in exchange for his influence as a member of the parliamentary judiciary and legislation committee.

Should this charge be substantiated, the senior lawmaker could be sentenced to a jail term of five years or more.

The DUP leadership, however, said the investigation was political retaliation, as well as an attempt to turn the public’s attention away from the irregularity scandal plaguing President Lee Myung-bak and the ruling camp.

“The prosecutor’s unexpected call came shortly after my parliamentary speech in which I blasted the prosecution for colluding with the ruling power,” Park said on Wednesday, the day after the prosecution’s summons.

The Saenuri Party rejected the DUP claims and urged Park to cooperate in the probe.

Meanwhile, parties are undecided on whether or not to hold a provisional parliamentary session next month.

In order to open the regular session in September, the National Assembly is to kick off the parliamentary inspection on government offices in August.

Parties are cold toward the idea as the arrest of the disputed lawmakers would then be postponed once again, likely triggering public backlash.

“The parliamentary session should not be opened in August,” said the Saenuri floor leader Rep. Lee Hahn-koo.

Rep. Nam Kyung-pil suggested that the assembly may take a 10-day break during session to allow the prosecutorial probe to take place.

The DUP’s floor spokesperson Rep. Woo Won-shik also opposed the provisional session but left room for further negotiations.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)