10 down, 1 key figure to go

The independent counsel team appears to be at a critical juncture in its investigation of the cash-for-summit affair; it is struggling against a time deadline that the ruling party and the administration seem reluctant to extend, and its probe has already reached former President Kim Dae-jung’s Blue House chief of staff. Will Mr. Kim also be questioned?
The counsel has been working since April 17, Song Doo-hwan and his staff have questioned 10 key Hyundai and Kim administration officials suspected of being involved in the transfer of at least $500 million to North Korea before the 2000 inter-Korean summit in June of that year. The counsel’s probe could put that meeting in a new and less flattering light if the allegations that the summit was bought are proven.
South Korea sent 130 delegates to the historic summit; Lim Dong-won, the former National Intelligence Service head, was the architect of the meeting, along with Park Jie-won, the former Blue House chief of staff. Mr. Lim visited the North in May and June 2000 to arrange the event and the agenda. He has been summoned by the counsel twice already ― the second questioning took place yesterday.
Mr. Park was culture minister in 2000. He met with Song Ho-kyong, North Korea’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee vice chairman, in Beijing on April 8, 2000; the two drafted an agreement that the two Koreas’ leaders would meet. Mr. Park will be summoned Monday, and former President Kim will then be about the only figure left unquestioned.

by Kang Joo-an, Lee Young-jong