4 officials face probe for illegal surveillance


Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, center, looks on during the last meeting of the government-civilian panel on Sejong City, Monday. The panel, co-chaired by Chung, was disbanded as the revision proposal for the Sejong City development plan failed to pass the National Assembly late last month. At left is Chung Jong-hwan, minister of land, transport and maritime affairs.
/ Korea Times photo by Won Yu-hun

By Kim Young-jin

Staff reporter

Four officials from the Office of the Prime Minister are facing an investigation into their alleged illegal surveillance of a businessman critical of the Lee Myung-bak administration. Three of them were relieved of their posts.

The office asked the prosecution to look into the allegations to find the truth, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said Monday.

An internal inquiry found that the four officials, including Lee In-kyu, who was in charge of investigating ethics violations by public officials, had violated the office's code of conduct.

They allegedly monitored the businessman, named Kim Jong-ik, after he posted a video critical of the administration on a website in 2008 ― despite their mandate being only to investigate civil servants.

The officials will be questioned over suspected abuse of power, interfering with Kim's business and being involved in other illegal activities, Cho Won-dong, a senior official at the office, said.

In an investigative report aired last week by MBC, Kim said government officials ransacked his company to confiscate financial records and forced KB Bank, one of the firm's main clients, to discontinue business deals with it.

President Lee Myung-bak called for a prompt probe of the allegations Sunday and in the case of any illegalities, stern punishment.

In the MBC report, two lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) alleged that Lee In-kyu had ordered Kim to be monitored after he posted the clip in September 2008, amid massive protests against the administration for its resumption of U.S. beef imports.

The scandal is expected to be a hot-button issue in the run-up to the National Assembly by-elections slated for July 28. Eight seats are up for grabs.

Over the weekend, the DP formed a special committee to look into the scandal, saying that it will present the case to the Assembly for an inquiry, a move that could paint the administration further into a corner over the issue.

The ruling camp is reeling after suffering successive defeats in the June local elections and over the Sejong City revision plan, which was voted down last week at the Assembly.

Speculation has been rampant that Prime Minister Chung Un-chan offered his resignation to the President in a meeting over the weekend.

Chung has said he will take "full responsibility" for the administration's failure to push the revised Sejong City plan through the legislature.

Under the plan, a business hub would have been created in Sejong, South Chungcheong Province, instead of the originally planned administrative town.