Kim's think tank accused of cronyism, illicit funds

Charges of corrupt practices have been flung back and forth for several months by Korea's politicians. The names that have been named, in sincere or postured outrage, include family members of President Kim Dae-jung and the opposition leader, Lee Hoi-chang.

So in some ways, Monday was just another day in Korea's political life. The Grand National Party demanded investigations of the president's three sons and one of his senior advisers. Opposition legislators charged that cowed or complicit prosecutors deliberately avoid investigating scandals. And the party, not known lately for unanimity, filed a petition by all 133 of its lawmakers demanding a parliamentary investigation of the Kim Dae-Jung Asia-Pacific Peace Foundation.

What exactly is the peace foundation? What is its purpose, and what is it alleged to have done?

Mr. Kim himself created the foundation in 1994 and charged it with researching and developing peaceful unification policies. The president has pledged to devote himself to promoting a peaceful settlement for the Asian region after his term of office ends.

So the foundation is a think tank, at least in theory. It has four research affiliates and employs 23 staff members.

Although the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation pursued scholarly recognition at the time of its establishment, the foundation has always been the center of rumors. There have been suggestions that it has meddled in official personnel appointments as well as raising and managing a slush fund of Mr. Kim.

Mr. Kim prepared his political comeback after a 1992 presidential election defeat with the foundation acting as a rear base and command post for his bid in the 1997 presidential election.

Since then, the opposition party repeatedly has accused the foundation of being a vault for alleged illicit funds of Mr. Kim's. The foundation raised 21.3 billion won ($16.4 million) over seven years since 1994, a Foreign Ministry report noted.

The peace foundation retorted that all of its fund raising activities were legal, adding that it has been turning down large donations offered by individual and corporate sponsors since Mr. Kim became president.

The foundation's alleged influence on government personnel appointments has also been criticized; dozens of core government positions were filled with figures who once worked for the foundation. Lim Dong-won, special presidential adviser for foreign policy and national security, was the foundation's secretary-general; North Jeolla Governor You Jong-keun also served the foundation.

Under the Kim Dae-jung administration, former and incumbent officials of the foundation were investigated by prosecutors in four cases of alleged illegal lobbying and corruption. Lee Soo-dong, former director of the foundation, was recently detained on charges of accepting bribes from a businessman in return for smoothing over an investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service.

In 1997, Mr. Kim admitted that he had received a slush fund from former president Roh Tae-woo, and Mr. Lee was the only person outside Mr. Kim's family with an account holding the money. Since then, the opposition party has suspected that the foundation is deeply corrupt.

The foundation, however, flatly denies any connection to financial and political scandals.

by Lee Jung-min, Kim Jung-ha