With his head bowed, Kim Hong Gul, 38, stopped briefly at the photo line and mumbled: “I am sorry. I feel ashamed before my parents. I apologize to the people.” The junior Kim then took an elevator to see prosecutors, who summoned him for allegedly taking nearly $2 million in bribes from companies in return for business favors. Two days later, he was formally arrested and sent to a Seoul prison. “I am sorry to have caused concern to many people,” he said.
Call it dejavu all over again. Exactly five years and one day earlier, the youngest son of President Kim’s predecessor was questioned by prosecutors for similar charges. Former President Kim Young Sam’s son, Kim Hyun Chul, was later convicted of bribery and tax evasion and given a two-year prison term. Then an opposition leader, the current President Kim criticized the first family for the scandal–attacks that played a key role in his presidential victory later that year.
Upon taking power, Kim promised clean politics and waged vigorous reforms to fight corruption. But as his own son faced disgrace last week, the reform crusader and Nobel laureate had to apologize to the nation “for worrying the people with son-related matters.” Critics were quick to attack. In an editorial, Chosun Ilbo, a conservative Seoul daily, said “the existence of a regal president” was responsible for the scandal. It added: “The country wouldn’t have become a republic of irregularities had the president had a firm will and determination.”
The latest scandal was triggered by nine audiotapes recently obtained by NEWSWEEK’S Korean edition and published in its May 15 edition. In the tapes, Choi Kyu Sun, a close aide to President Kim, made frank confessions about how he helped the first family with activities ranging from campaigning to fund-raising. Choi said that he helped President Kim win the elections by having celebrities like Michael Jackson and George Soros support his campaign. Choi, who is in jail on graft charges, also claimed he had paid Kim’s accused son, Hong Gul, with money provided by businesses. Prosecutors said later they found evidence verifying part of Choi’s claims. Cho Suk Hyun, Hong Gul’s lawyer, told reporters last week that his client admitted receiving money from companies, but insisted that it was not in exchange for favors.
According to prosecutors, the investigation is focused on whether Kim’s son received money from Tiger Pools, a London-based sports lottery company, in return for helping it win a license to do business in South Korea. Early last year, Tiger Pools won the Korean rights–together with local partners–to sell sports lottery tickets ahead of the World Cup soccer finals that will begin in Seoul on May 31. A former Tiger Pools executive who did not want to be named said the company was chosen to do the business after “transparent and fair selection processes.” But prosecutors said Monday that some of the company’s funds were funneled to Choi as well as several politicians. Prosecutors have already ordered about 10 unnamed politicians and high-level bureaucrats not to leave the country.
Even before the latest scandal, Hong Gul was attacked by opposition politicians for his allegedly lavish lifestyle. He has lived in the United States since the early 1990s, first as a University of Southern California student and then as a researcher. Two years ago, an opposition member exposed Hong’s ownership of a house worth $1 million in a Los Angeles suburb. The son couldn’t answer questions from opposition members about how he earned the money to pay for the house. President Kim’s second son, Kim Hong Up, has also been accused by opposition members of taking bribes from companies. Prosecutors say he has laundered more than $2 million. Hong Up has not responded to the charges.
As the youngest son faces imminent prosecution, his father has to worry about its negative impact on the ruling Millennium Democratic Party in December’s presidential vote. President Kim is constitutionally barred from running for another term, but he supports the party’s candidate, Roh Moo Hyun. Roh, a former human-rights lawyer, was ahead of the main opposition candidate, Lee Hoi Chang, by nearly 30 percent only until a few weeks ago. But between the scandal and Roh’s own campaign missteps, the latest polls show the candidates to be running almost neck and neck. More importantly, the scandal is a big blow to the president who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his conciliatory moves toward North Korea. Kim may have tried hard to seek peace on the Korean peninsula, but, for the moment at least, peace inside his own family seems to be beyond his grasp.
