Lawmaker Says Former President Kim Young-sam Gave 94 Billion Won in Illicit Political Funds to Him

Kang Sam-jae, a five-term lawmaker of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), claimed on Friday in a trial at the Seoul High Court that the source of the illicit political funds is former President Kim Young-sam.

The appeals court decided to have the former president stand as a witness in the next hearing on March 12 based on Kang’s testimony. Now it is being watched with keen interests whether the former president will appear in the court as a witness for the first time in Korean history.

Kang said in a trial that he, then the secretary general of the New Korea Party (NKP), the predecessor of the GNP, received 94 billion won from the former president Kim, then also president of the NKP, at the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.

Kang added that he was sure that the money was not linked with the budget of the National Security Planning (NSP), the predecessor of the National Intelligence Service (NIS). Citing a reason why he had not revealed the truth, he said he believed the truth would be revealed naturally as the investigation has been underway.

“While conveying the money to me, the former president made no comments on its origins,” said Kang, adding, “I understood the money was meant to support the campaigns of the candidates of the then-ruling NKP since it was ahead of the 1996 parliamentary election.”

However, Kim Ki-sop, a senior NSP official who is also on trial over the same issue, said he decided by himself to deliver NSP money to the then-ruling NKP because the former president had not taken any political funds during his term of office, making the then-ruling NKP face financial difficulties ahead of the 1996 general election.

He stuck to his original position that he decided to deliver the money to the then-ruling party, not the former president, though the money surely came from the NSP.

He also said that he would submit a statement about the circumstances of the case including how the money was funded and who delivered the money at the next trial.

The Central Investigation Division at the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office, which had handled the case, said it concluded that the money Kang received was linked with the budget of the NSP, and it will decide whether the former president should be summoned after reviewing the circumstances of Kang’s testimony and the results of the investigation again.

Prosecutors are reportedly deciding whether or not to re-investigate the case after hearing the former president’s testimony. The next trial is scheduled on 2:00 p.m. February 27.

In the meanwhile, the former president has not formally responded to Kang’s remarks. A source claimed that Kang made the bombshell announcement to save his own life, adding that the former president would not appear in the court as a witness since this case is political.

GNP spokesperson Rep. Park Jin said the case involving Kang turned out to be a pure fabrication as Kang told the truth. He added that the GNP cleared itself of false accusation that it diverted money from the NSP budget to support the 1996 general election.