Here is the picture of the said demonstration:
Posted on 06/23/2003 11:47:05 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
June 23, 2003
South Korean President Blocks Extension of Bribe Probe
By DON KIRK
EOUL, South Korea, June 23 — President Roh Moo Hyun refused today to extend the politically explosive investigation into charges that his predecessor, Kim Dae Jung, had bribed North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il to participate in a summit meeting between the two countries in 2000.
Though he rejected a special prosecutor's request for a one-month extension of the inquiry, which expires on Wednesday, President Roh left open the possibility of a fresh investigation in the future.
"Whatever questions remain must also be investigated so the Korean people will not have suspicions," Mr. Roh told his cabinet.
The National Assembly, he said, still had the option of passing the same kind of bill that authorized the current investigation, which has so far resulted in the arrest of three people implicated in the transfer of $500 million to North Korea before the summit meeting.
The special prosecutor, Song Doo Hwan, was expected to indict all three of the jailed former officials, including Park Jie Won, Kim Dae Jung's right-hand man throughout his five-year presidential term that ended in February .
Mr. Park was arrested on Thursday on charges of using his office to pressure the state-owned Korea Development Bank to give an illegal loan to Hyundai companies, which was accused of transferring the payment into North Korean coffers. Lee Keun Young, who was then the governor of the Korea Development Bank, and Lee Ki Ho, who was then the economic secretary on Kim Dae Jung's staff, were also arrested.
Mr. Park was also charged with having accepted a $12.5 million bribe from Chung Mong Hun, the chairman of Hyundai Asan, the Hyundai company responsible for Hyundai's dealings with North Korea. Mr. Chung, one of six surviving sons of the late Hyundai group founder, Chung Ju Yung, who pioneered the opening of commercial relations with North Korea before his death in March 2001, was accused of relaying the money through Hyundai Securities, a leading investment firm here.
Mr. Song's aides have questioned both Chung Mong Hun and Lim Dong Won, the former intelligence chief regarded as the architect of Kim Dae Jung's so-called sunshine policy of reconciliation with North Korea. Although Mr. Chung and Mr. Lim have not been arrested, the special prosecutor's office did not rule out the possibility that they too might be indicted before the current investigation wraps up on Wednesday.
More than 100,000 people, many of them wearing old military uniforms, demonstrated on Saturday in central Seoul, decrying the sunshine policy and calling for an expanded investigation. Some of the demonstrators said the former president, Kim Dae Jung, who received the Nobel Peace Prize four months after the summit meeting, should be forced to return the prize if he was shown to have "purchased" the meeting.
The Grand National Party, the conservative opposition grouping that has a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, called for a new investigation into why President Roh would not extend the current investigation. The party threatened to block other bills in the assembly until President Roh signed a bill authorizing a new investigation.
Leaders of Mr. Roh's own party applauded the president for ending the current inquiry and vowed to battle any move by conservatives to appoint another special prosecutor.
But Mr. Roh's own advisers in the Blue House, the center of presidential power, were reported to be divided on whether he should endorse further efforts at uncovering payoffs to North Korea.
"Naturally some people in the Blue House have different opinions," a Blue House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that most of the president's advisers "share the opinion that the president should not be investigated."
Here is the picture of the said demonstration:
Steel Wolf will be out of town for a few months. Way out of town. On business.
He will be checking in periodically, and responding to posts, when possible.
Is he on a mission to off Kim Jong-Il personally?:)
Shhh...we don't know who is checking these threads.. :)
He may think that he is safe if Bush does not hear his flip-flops. He even does flip-flops right in front of S. Korean audience, too. He says one thing one day and says something completely opposite later, sometimes even over a span of few days.
No wonder he is called a "Rugby ball," which means that he is like a fumbled football. You would never guess where he will end up at any given day.:)
By the way, where did you read about Kim Young-Sam ? I have not seen it from three major dailies, Chosun, Joongang, and Donga, the evil triple, which are decried as "gangster media" by lefties.:)
We cannot rule out that they were indeed aware of the timing. However, who knows? We may be giving them too much credit.:) Many of them are rather disorganized. It may have completely slip through their minds, and what happened could be a mere coincidence. They stopped the investigation just about the time when we get into a really interesting stuff, possible diverting of cash earmarked for N. Korean deal to Kim Dae-Jung's political slush funds, 15 billion won. There could be more. This must be what was rumored to be a "delivery accident." Even more bizzare, it has been revealed that part of this money, about 10 billion won, was robbed by several criminals who broke into the house of a guy who was most likely to launder the cash. It was getting really interesting. Because of that, I knew it would not last.:)
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