&#91EDITORIALS&#93Blue House skullduggery?

Representative Sul Hoon of the Millennium Democratic Party testified that last year he accused the then Grand National Party leader, Lee Hoi-chang, of accepting a $200,000 bribe based on information provided by the then Blue House secretary. We are dumfounded to learn that the Kim Dae-jung Blue House, which stressed political neutrality, was apparently involved in last year’s presidential election directly and indirectly. It is also lamentable that a member of the National Assembly was making an allegation to harm the leader of the opposition, presumably under orders from the Blue House.
Mr. Sul said in a press briefing last April that Mr. Lee had accepted a $200,000 bribe, saying he had a tape proving the allegation. He said he would retire from the political arena if he were proven false. The accusation, made only eight months before the presidential election, was strong enough to influence the situation. The Grand National Party flatly denied the allegation, but Mr. Sul’s charge was in detail. The prosecution even acknowledged the scandal, as if suspicions were founded. The disclosure, thus, became convincing, although still only an allegation.
“I had made the disclosure after being tipped off by the Blue House, and their accusations are almost always 100 percent true,” Mr. Sul said. “I waited to reveal the truth because President Kim Dae-jung could have had difficulties in national governance if the truth was known then,” he said. That means Mr. Sul knew his deed was illegal, immoral and politically and socially unacceptable.
We do not believe the Blue House secretary made up the entire story. Higher-ranking authorities would have been behind the accusation. We demand to know who devised such a behind-the-scenes maneuver, if such is the case. We demand to know if President Kim Dae-jung knew about the allegation and if there was other political maneuvering. Mr. Sul should pay for his moral and ethical irresponsibility separately from criminal punishment, because he was the Blue House’s instrument for using the people.