Prosecutor-general nominee Lim Chai-jin, the head of the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office Lee Kwi-nam, and Lee Jong-baek, a former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, were regularly bribed by Samsung, the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice alleged Monday. The three high-profile figures are said to be on a list of some 40 alleged recipients of regular Samsung bribes. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office the same day started an investigation of allegations about Samsung slush funds and bribery of public prosecutors raised by the conglomerate¡¯s former top attorney Kim Yong-chul.
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The Catholic Priests' Association for Justice discloses part of the a list of public prosecutors who were allegedly bribed by Samsung, at a press conference at Jegi-dong Catholic Church on Monday.
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Three presidential candidates -- Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party, Kwon Young-ghil of the Democratic Labor Party and Moon Kook-hyun of the Creative Korea Party -- will meet Tuesday to discuss charging an independent counsel with the investigation instead. Representatives of the three candidates in a preliminary meeting reportedly agreed an independent counsel is needed given the extent of suspected involvement by the prosecution.
According to presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon, the presidential office will watch developments closely, including a parliamentary hearing to question Lim on Tuesday.
The Catholic organization on Monday disclosed part of the list to spur the prosecution, which had unusually demanded the list before launching a probe. The CPAJ cited a memo by Kim, who headed the legal department of Samsung¡¯s Restructuring Office from 1997 to 2004, as saying the former personnel chief at the Restructuring Office, Lee Woo-hee, took charge of looking after Lim, while Je Jin-hoon, CEO of Samsung subsidiary Cheil Industries, looked after Lee Jong-baek, who is now chairman of the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Lim denied the allegations through Kim Kyung-soo, the public affairs officer at the Supreme Prosecutor's Office. The spokesman quoted Lim as saying he was not acquainted with Kim Yong-chul or had any recollection of bumping into him when he met with others. Lim said he never received any request from Samsung for any favors or was lobbied by the conglomerate. The others also denied the charge.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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