[EDITORIALS]The spin doctors are in

More and more people are casting inquisitive glances at the Blue House as the investigation got under way into the case involving Choi Gyu-seon's mysterious financial transaction with President Kim Dae-jung's third son, Kim Hong-gul, and the fleeing to Hong Kong by the National Police Agency's special investigation division chief, Choi Seong-gyu. Blue House officials have refrained from actively explaining things. Instead, they have flatly denied things or changed their words. That is why the Blue House is even suspected of protecting or supporting the actions of the suspects.

There was a rumor that Choi Gyu-seon called and threatened a presidential secretary for help. The secretary initially denied talking to him over the phone. But later the official inexplicably changed his words and said that he got several calls from Mr. Choi, but they were not threatening. Mr. Choi said right before showing up for the prosecution, "In 1998 Lee Kang-rae, then senior presidential secretary for political affairs, was trying to get me indicted for fraud by prodding the police. But my wife asked Hong-gul to help me and eventually I was released by the police with the help of Park Joo-sun, then presidential secretary for legal affairs." Mr. Choi used real names in retelling the incident. Both Mr. Lee and Mr. Park, who were named by Mr. Choi, brushed off the claim as groundless and a lie. Someone must be lying.

If we study Choi Seong-gyu's behavior right before his escape, and place it alongside Mr. Choi's new claim, we are naturally led to suspect that the Blue House must have been involved in this matter. Choi Seong-gyu last Thursday met a secretary for civil affairs at the Blue House and had a meeting with Mr. Choi late Friday. He fled to Indonesia through Hong Kong on Sunday. The Blue House explained that Choi's visit to the Blue House was for business as usual, and that it didn't have anything to do with Hong-gul or Choi Gyu-seon.

The Blue House should come forward to explain things and to clear up all suspicions. If the Blue House keeps denying everything, suspicions will only grow and the public's trust in the administration will deteriorate further.