By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

The prosecution on Thursday indicted Kim Jong-pil, former leader of the minor opposition United Liberal Democrats (ULD), on charges of taking illegal political funds from Samsung Group in 2002.

It is the first time that the 77-year-old lawmaker will face trial since he debuted in politics through a military coup in 1961.

A graduate of the Korean Military Academy, Kim took part in the coup as an assistant officer for then-army general Park Chung-hee. He served as the inaugural chief of the intelligence agency after Park grabbed power.

The nine-term lawmaker, an icon of old-time politics, failed to win a 10th term in last month’s general elections. He retired from politics late last month, taking responsibility for his party’s crushing election defeat.

Kim was called in for questioning on Sunday, and admitted to having taken 1.5 billion won in illegal funds from Samsung ahead of the June 3 elections in 2002, according to the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office (SPPO).

Kim’s indictment comes as several more ULD lawmakers are facing bribery charges. On Wednesday, Rep. Rhee In-je, ULD’s acting chairman, was jailed for taking 250 million won from the largest opposition Grand National Party (GNP) in 2002 in exchange for his support for then-GNP presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang.

Last week, prosecutors claimed Reps. Song Kwang-ho and Chung Woo-taik and former ULD legislator Won Churll-hee accepted 30 million won each from the GNP for reasons similar to Rhee. They will be summoned for questioning soon.

Prosecutors said they questioned former ULD chairman Lee Han-dong on Wednesday. Lee, a former prime minister, is facing charges for taking 200 million won from SK Group during the 2002 presidential campaign.

Lee told investigators that he didn’t take the money himself, but knew about the money later, the SPPO said.

The prosecution will announce on Friday the outcome of its investigation into illegal corporate donations during the presidential election. A decision on how to deal with President Roh Moo-hyun and former opposition leader Lee will be the highlight of the announcement.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr