Video killed the BBK star?
Published: 16 Dec. 2007, 22:20
The United New Democratic Party plans to press the independent counsel about Lee and BBK at today’s National Assembly.
If the independent counsel sees fit to investigate Lee further, if Lee gets elected and if President Roh does not veto any action against Lee, then an unprecedented series of events will unfold in which a special prosecutor investigates a newly elected president.
This is now an emergency situation. Distrust and hatred surrounding the BBK scandal looms large over the legitimacy of the election results and national reconciliation.
The Grand National Party intends to block the probe vote by all means possible, and some extremists will insist on boycotting the election and refuse to accept the election results, which will cause untold disruption and confusion.
We urge each party to remain calm. Above all, Lee must come clean. He has dismissed the video clip and instead relies on the prosecutor’s initial conclusion that he didn’t own BBK.
Yet this does not explain why Lee’s business card stipulated him as the president of BBK or why in another video clip Lee was using the president’s room at BBK.
If Lee continues to emphasize the law without any account for the unfolding situation, it shows his disregard for others and an inability to address criticism from the opposition.
We may expect a demonstration at his inauguration that, should Lee win, accuses the new president of being a liar. The unresolved issue will plague him throughout his term, causing great discomfort for the entire nation.
Honesty is the only path Lee can take now.
As we have said many times, the UNDP should quit seeking an independent counsel on this case. Lee appears to have assisted his partner on BBK, but support is a different issue from ownership and manipulation of stock prices.
The prosecutors have mobilized many tools, including identifying the authenticity of documents, probing bank accounts and investigating relevant parties.
They concluded that Lee did not own BBK nor did he engage in manipulating the stock price. The UNDP must accept this.
Bringing in an independent counsel will turn the National Assembly into a savage battleground and threatens the legitimacy of the presidential election.
We must move on from BBK since there are more pressing matters that affect the future of our country.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)