Probe of Spy Cash Finds Whiff of Blue House Link

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Probe of Spy Cash Finds Whiff of Blue House Link

The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said Thursday that it will call Kwon Younghae, former director of central intelligence, and Lee Wonjong, former Blue House secretary for political affairs, for more questioning to determine whether legal action should be taken against them. The prosecution reportedly has secured evidence that Kim Hyunchul, former president Kim Youngsam's second son, was involved in the alleged political money transfer from the National Security Planning Agency.

"It's not that we've secured decisive evidence or testimony, but we have reconstructed a scenario based on our investigation and found a plausible link between Kim Hyunchul and the scheme," a prosecutor said. The prosecution plans to question Mr. Kwon, Mr. Lee and Kim Kisup, former money manager at the National Security Planning Agency, to see whether the son of the former president was indeed involved in the plot.

Prosecutors said they believe that questioning Rep. Kang Samjae, a vice president of the opposition Grand National Party and campaign manager for the New Korea Party in 1996, is crucial to finding out whether Kim Hyunchul was involved. Mr. Kang was indicted, but not detained, on Monday. While the prosecution has said that Mr. Kang and Kim Kisup carried out the actual operation, it maintains that higher officials probably knew about the money transfer because billions of won allegedly changed hands.



by Shin Dong-jae

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