By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

Min Kyeong-chan, relative of President Roh Moo-hyun, and the late former Pusan mayor Ahn Sang-young are emerging as possibly significant factors in the run-up to the April general elections.

With Min being grilled on charges of illegally raising 65 billion won from 47 private investors, Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) chairman Chough Soon-hyung chose the moment to zero in on Roh’s ethics.

In his speech to the National Assembly on Thursday, Chough said, ``We still live in a political culture in which an in-law of the president can collect such a huge amount of money in just two months.’’

Min, brother-in-law of the president’s elder brother Roh Keon-pyeong, allegedly raised the money recently in investment funds using his status as a relative to the president.

Chough also hinted that his party would move to revise the constitution in regards to the current single-executive presidential system after the legislative elections.

Min’s fund-raising case apparently put the pro-government Uri Party on the defensive. Holding its breath over how Min’s case will develop ahead of the crucial elections, the pro-government Uri Party, comprising those supportive of Roh’s reform drive, also urged the prosecution to open a full investigation into the scandal.

Opposition parties, in particular, are gearing up for showdown with the Uri Party in the upcoming three-day Assembly hearing slated for Feb. 10-12. The MDP threatened to seek a special counsel bill targeting Min should the National Police Agency fails to shed light on the case.

Rapping Roh for further muddling state affairs by abusing his authority ahead of the April general elections, Chough also brought up the allegation that the late Ahn had been asked by Roh to join the pro-Roh Uri Party.

Upon Ahn’s suicide on Wednesday, Grand National Party chairman Choe Byung-yul claimed that Roh’s political maneuvering prompted Ahn to take his own life, saying, ``The prosecution’s arrest of Ahn on bribery charges came shortly after the former Pusan mayor declined the head of state’s solicitation.’’

Roh, on his part, is refraining from making an official statement on his involvement in Min’s fund raising, nor did he directly comment on Ahn’s death.

With recent opinion polls showing the Uri Party in the lead over rival parties, Roh and the progressive-minded party have been planning to consolidate their ties to gain the upper hand in the elections.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr