By Byun Duk-kun
Staff Reporter

The prosecution will summon 11 lawmakers of the Grand National Party (GNP), who joined the party right before the 2002 presidential election, to probe allegations that they received more than 200 million won each for joining the main opposition party.

The Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office said they have secured clues and testimonies from Rep. Kim Young-iel of the GNP and Lee Jae-hyon, a former financial advisor to the party, that the two lawmakers gave 200 million won to 250 million won to lawmakers who changed their party affiliation to the GNP.

The prosecution said it secured evidence that the money funneled to the lawmakers derived from illegal funds the GNP raised through donations from the nation’s conglomerates, adding that the 11 representatives will be called in as early as this weekend for questioning.

Investigators said the affected lawmakers may face criminal charges, if they are found to have received illegally raised funds from the GNP.

The suspected lawmakers include seven lawmakers who belonged to the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) before the presidential race, including Kang Sung-koo, Kim Won-gil, Kim Yun-seek, Park Sang-kyu, Won You-chul, Lee Keun-jin and Jeon Yong-hak.

Three of the 11, Lee Yang-hee, Lee One-ku, Lee Jae-sun, were once members of the minor opposition United Liberal Democrats (ULD). Han Seung-soo of the Democratic People’s Party also took money after defecting to the GNP.

The prosecution is also trying to confirm that another lawmaker also received money in exchange for joining the GNP ahead of the presidential election, according to the prosecution.

The lawmakers allegedly received 50 million won each right after their joining the party, according to the prosecution. The lawmakers then each received an additional 150 million in the name of operation expenditure, while some asked for additional 50 million won at a later date, the prosecution said.

However, the prosecution has not determined whether it would press charges against the lawmakers simply for receiving money from the GNP in exchange for joining the party.

The suspected lawmakers are strongly denying the allegation, saying the money was legitimate, and it was not intended as a payoff for changing parties.

``(I) received 50 million won after I joined the party (GNP), but I never misappropriated the money for my personal use,’’ Rep. Park Sang-kyu of the GNP said.

However, the prosecution is focusing on whether the lawmakers had known about the origin of their ``signing bonuses,’’ as Rep. Kim Young-iel, who was serving as the party’s secretary-general at the time, said the money was part of the illegal campaign fund the party had collected from Samsung, according to a prosecutor.

If the lawmakers are confirmed to have known about the illegality of the funds they received and still tried to conceal the money, the prosecution may indict the lawmakers on charges of violating the anti-money-laundering law, which prohibits a politician from offering or accepting any money that originates from a crime.

The prosecution is trying to find out whether any of the lawmakers kept the money in a secret bank account, which would direct the lawmakers to the origin of the money and enable the prosecution to indict the lawmakers on violation of the anti-money-laundering law.

benjamine@koreatimes.co.kr