The results of the Board of Audit and Inspection probe into whether or not Hyundai Merchant Marine secretly gave cash to North Korea, out of an illegal loan from the state-run Korea Development Bank, confirms that a full-scale prosecution investigation is needed. The BAI's conclusion that of the W400 billion loan, W224 billion is "missing" and cannot be traced raises bigger suspicions of misconduct. HMM claimed the money was for operational use, but if this is the case how come some is missing. The Grand National Party has alleged that the money was sent secretly to North Korea in return for a summit meeting.

The BAI filed a suit with the prosecution against HMM for refusing to cooperate with its investigators. The company refused to present evidence to the BAI three times in two months, saying it was confidential, leading to the conclusion that HMM and the government are just mocking the people.

Current and former staff at the KDB said only one month would be needed to trace the money and so it is unacceptable for HMM to come up with a dubious excuse for failing to cooperate in an investigation into a national scandal. In addition the BAI and the current government's behavior is questionable. If they knew that the company was not going to surrender material, it should have involved the prosecution from the beginning.

Prosecutors must now fully uncover the truth, as their honor is once again at stake. As long as the scandal remains unexplained the outgoing Kim Dae-jung administration and incoming Roh Moo-hyun government cannot claim to be clean.

January 21, 2003