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Prosecutors on Monday decided to launch an investigation into the suspected involvement of influential figures in an arcade games scandal. They are considering a travel ban for several people and raids on the Korea Media Rating Board and the Korea Game Development & Promotion Institute. The scandal has snowballed since it emerged that President Roh Moo-hyun¡¯s nephew is involved in an adult slot machine game company that markets the highly addictive game ¡°Sea Story.¡±
A prosecutor said investigators want to know whether powerful figures hold stakes in the gambling company through nominees and whether a company issuing gift certificates, which are used as prizes in the gambling stores, greased the wheels on behalf of the businesses. ¡°We have evidence showing that the media rating board approved game programs after a perfunctory review,¡± the prosecutor added. Prosecutors are considering seizing some 60,000 illegal gambling machines distributed nationwide at ¡°Sea Story¡± outlets and the ¡°Golden Castle¡± game arcade. But they are minded to seize only the gambling programs installed since they lack the space to store the machines, whose seizure would also be legally dubious since they are the property of arcade owners.
Meanwhile, a published recording suggest that big names close to government circles exercised their influence in the review process of the media rating board. The tape is allegedly a conversation between game arcade owners. ¡°The top people make the final decision on whether to approve a gambling program or not. It¡¯s a power game,¡± one is heard to say. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that ¡¦ and ¡¦ run the gift certificate business behind the scenes?¡± The two people mentioned are well-known public figures.
The owners also talk about the involvement of black money in the gift certificate business. "Don¡¯t you know the money is political funds? Everything is related to the political circle,¡± one says. ¡°A Japanese pachinko parlor association used its influence to get the Korea Media Rating Board approve the gambling program.¡± ¡°Even a pachinko association of Korean expatriates in Japan helped the gambling program get approved by the media rating board.¡±
Lawmaker Park Hyeong-joon has demanded a parliamentary probe of the scandal or the appointment of a special prosecutor, saying the tape suggests irregularities in the review of the media rating board and that dirty money even from Japan flowed into the ¡°Sea Story¡± empire.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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