[EDITORIAL] Wrongheaded Lawsuit

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[EDITORIAL] Wrongheaded Lawsuit

The government filed a suit for damages against Rep. Kang Sam-jae, Kim Ki-sup, former official of the National Security Planning Agency, and the Grand National Party in the name of recovering 94 billion won ($73 million), the amount diverted from the intelligence agency's budget to the former ruling camp during the 1996 general elections. The background of the lawsuit draws attention; it is unprecedented that the government took the largest opposition party to court to claim reparations and the investigation is still in progress.

No one will argue that it is absolutely right to make reparation for the government budget if it was used to finance a particular party's election campaign. If the former ruling camp illegally took the agency's budget, no justification can rationalize such an act and it is vital that steps be taken to recover it as soon as possible. But why do we get the impression that the suit for damages is not a pure procedure to reclaim the national treasury, but a political maneuver to exert pressures on the opposition party?

Most important, the truth has yet to be uncovered. The Grand National Party and Rep. Kang, the alleged mastermind, are strongly denying that the money came from the agency's budget. In addition, former President Kim Young-sam and even some ruling party lawmakers are expressing doubts.

Furthermore, the probe has drawn suspicion as a politically motivated investigation; during the probe, details drifted out from the ruling party and the Blue House, and the entire list of lawmakers, presumably investigation data, circulated widely.

In particular, the subject of returning the election funds to state coffers was brought up by the Millennium Democratic Party as a political ploy.

President Kim Dae-jung emphasized this point and a ruling party lawmaker, who has transplant- ed himself from the former ruling circle, sounded as if he would immediately return the money. At the outset, it appeared that the lawmakers who had received the funds would be forced to reimburse them, but with the public support apparent for returning the money to the national treasury, the method has switched to the extreme - the lawsuit. Despite the wide-ranging confirmation of the list of those who accepted funds, the lawsuit is likely to prompt disputes whether it is reasonable to bring suit against a party, rather than individuals, or whether the Grand National Party is the legal successor of the former ruling camp.

The government explains that it has hurried with the lawsuit driven by the fact that the statute of limitations expires in five years for the Budget Accounting Law. However, truth should be divulged prior to a lawsuit, and based on the results, the recovery of funds should come next. The finding out of the truth and the recovery of funds to state coffers are both the government셲 job. When it dallies with delving into the truth but hastens with the recovery of money, this also fans the criticism that the government is launching a political offense.

For the government, filing a lawsuit based on the facts obtained from an ongoing investigation is unprecedented and it goes without saying that it is not the correct path to take. Furthermore, it is misguided that the government hurried to take the largest opposition, despite its total denial, to law. We cannot dispel the impression that it is i"abnormall" for the prosecution to apply the charge of acquiring stolen goods for election funds exceeding 100 billion won and for the government to commence with the lawsuit in the name of reclaiming the money to state coffers.
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