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The president, referring to the controversy over the "Sea Story" games arcade emporium at a meeting with the Uri Party leadership on Sunday, said, "My nephew has nothing to do with it. Consequently, once the error in implementing administrative policy is found out, it will once again confirm there was no such thing as a (gambling)-gate.¡± If there are administrative problems in the ¡°Sea Story¡± scandal, there are two. One is that the Korea Media Rating Board under the Culture and Tourism Ministry approved ¡°Sea Story¡± in deliberations in December 2004. The other is that the ministry changed the system so that the scope of gift certificates issued in lieu of prize money at video arcades drastically increased from December 2004 to July last year and that it recklessly selected the businesses that issued them. In short, the administrative mistake lies with the Culture Ministry.
Former culture and tourism minister Chung Dong-chae, who had the portfolio from June 2004 to March this year, on Monday told reporters remarks by former vice culture minister Yoo Jin-ryong that the Korea Media Rating Board declined several requests for reconsidering approval of ¡°Sea Story¡± was correct. ¡°I was aware that the problem was serious,¡± he said. Chung is close aide of the president, and served as his chief secretary during his candidacy. Even though such a figure was aware of it, a body under his ministry pushed the matter through against the minister's will, and the ministry, too, made mistakes over the gift certificates. The only explanation is that a power greater than the minister¡¯s wanted it so.
The Board of Audit and Inspection has just started looking into the scandal, and the prosecution is still in the initial phase of an investigation launched on July 6. Prosecutors say they have not investigated suspicions involving the president's nephew. But the president, based on a report from his civil affairs team produced from interviews with those involved, said his nephew had nothing to do with it, a remark that should be made by the prosecution after the investigation.
The immediate former president and the president before him, when their sons were allegedly involved in scandals, would get furious and accuse others of conspiring against their sons, while only paying attention to tame reports filed by their civil affairs teams. As a result, they failed to disclose the truth at the right time and then found themselves in hot water. The current president and Cheong Wa Dae should pay close attention to what the prosecution and the BAI discover.
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