Full disclosure demanded

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Full disclosure demanded

Erica Kim , the older sister of Kim Kyung-joon, did not make public the confidential addendum on the contract she claimed links Lee Myung-bak to BBK yesterday.
On Monday, she said she would hold a press conference the next day during which she would make public evidence to prove that Lee Myung-bak, the Grand National Party’s presidential candidate, was the owner of BBK, the bankrupt company of Kim Kyung-joon, who was arrested on charges of stock price manipulation and embezzlement,
But she didn’t show up. Instead, Kim Kyung-joon’s wife appeared and claimed that her husband was innocent. She didn’t even hold a question and answer session before she left. True, she did take out copies of the documents, claiming that Lee’s signatures are on them. But she said she wouldn’t let anyone see them. Kim and his family are being cowardly and unfair. If there is a confidential addendum, and if they have the original documents to prove it, they should simply make those documents public. The prosecution can take over from there. Instead, they simply drip-feed secondary documents to the public. This suggests that they are using the case for political ends, rather than for revealing the truth.
The family said it would submit the original documents to the prosecution by Friday, but this seems unlikely given the family’s actions so far. The fact that the family has postponed submitting the documents when time is running out for the prosecution doesn’t suggest a very cooperative attitude.
The family said it didn’t want to make public the original documents because Lee could have altered his signature, or he could have let another person sign the documents. But that argument is unconvincing. If Lee has used a bogus signature, his bid for the presidency will be severely weakened. It is natural to be suspicious about the family’s claims. Kim Kyung-joon could be sentenced to prison for life if the charges against him stick. And Erica Kim was indicted for fabricating official documents in the United States, a charge to which she pleaded guilty.
The family must stop creating suspicion and doubt. Instead, it must make public the evidence that it claims to possess. All 37 million voters in Korea demand the truth. If the family is failing to disclose the truth for political purposes, it is ridiculing the voters.
Such behavior should be regarded as an act of treachery against the country because it seriously disrupts the prosecution’s investigations, making it very difficult for voters to make the right decision.
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