Recycled draft issue triggers political ire

The opposition Grand National Party is fuming over allegations that the son of its presidential candidate, Lee Hoi-chang, dodged the draft. Lee Jeong-yeon had been exempted from military service, he has said, because he was underweight.

The GNP filed a complaint in court against Park Young-kwan, a director at the Seoul District Prosecutors Office Monday, charging that Mr. Park's new investigation was a smear campaign against the GNP standard-bearer.

Kim Dae-eop, a former officer at a military hospital who cooperated with the prosecution in an investigation into the same allegations earlier this year, last week raised new questions about the issue and triggered the prosecutors' probe.

"Mr. Park should be eliminated from the investigating charges since he consulted Mr. Kim, who was detained on fraud charges," said Kim Young-il, secretary general of the GNP. The opposition executive also said that Kim Jung-kil, minister of justice, is guiding Mr. Park's investigations from behind the scenes. Kim Dae-eop was released after the fraud charges were dropped early this year.

The same issue arose during the 1997 election campaign, when Mr. Lee was defeated by Kim Dae-jung. The National Assembly rejected prime minister-designate Chang Sang last week partly due to her son's U.S. nationality that exempted him from army services.

The MDP spokesman Lee Nak-yon called GNP accusations an "insurrection intending to cripple the prosecutors office."

by Lee Jung-min