Linda Kim Brought $2.7 Million into Korea in 1996

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Linda Kim Brought $2.7 Million into Korea in 1996

Published: 04 Jan. 2003, 18:58

It has been revealed that arms brokerage lobbyist Linda Kim, who is known to have lobbied high-ranking government officials over the "Paektu" project and the installation of electronic war equipment on the eastern front, brought $2.7 million into Koreea in 1996. Though judiciary authorities investigated Linda Kim for suspected illegal lobby activites at that time, the actual amount she brought in and when she brought it in was not revealed until now.

On April 30, the Korean prosecutors charged, but did not arrest, Kim for bribing Korean Air Force employees, including a colonel, with $16,000, but said, "Kim's lobby activities with high-ranking officials during Kim Young-sam's presidency have not been confirmed." The prosecution, however, did not mention the $2.7 million at all, which has resulted in them being accused of having carried out an unreliable investigaton. According to exclusive information obtained by JoongAng Ilbo on May 3, the Defense Security Command discovered the bank account in which Kim kept the money she brougt into Korea when they were investigating allegations of her illegal lobbying in 1997.

Authorities discovered that they could not account for the wherabouts of $900,000 of the money Kim brought into the country. However, it was later found that part of the money was used in purchasing and repairing a house in Nonhyon-dong, Kangnam Ward, Seoul.

However, it is not yet known whether Kim spent all of the missing $900,000 on the house, and if not, how the rest of the money was used.

by Choi Jae-hee