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http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200711/200711230026.html

What Will the Special Counsel Do?

A National Assembly subcommittee on Thursday gave the nod to legislation appointing a special counsel to investigate allegations of bribery of government officials and politicians by Samsung Group.
If the bill is passed at the main session of the National Assembly on Friday, the special counsel will start investigating Samsung early next year. But the parties did not discuss another pending bill that would establish an independent anti-corruption body, which Cheong Wa Dae has insisted must pass; and therefore the president will likely veto the special counsel bill. If he does, then it will require two-thirds of the National Assembly members to vote to override the veto, which means the probe will probably be delayed until early February.

Ruling and opposition party members of the subcommittee selected the claims made by former Samsung corporate attorney Kim Yong-chul as the main areas to investigate. The special counsel will look into all allegations, from the conglomerate's attempt to transfer group ownership to chairman Lee Kun-hee's son by underhand means to use of slush funds to lobby powerful public figures since 1997 including senior prosecutors, illegal setting up of bank accounts in executives� names to hide the slush funds. The special counsel must determine the veracity of Kim�s claim that between W5 million (US$1=W933) and tens of millions were delivered to the prosecutor general-designate, the chief of the Central Investigation Department at the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, the head of the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption, as well as key state prosecutors, Finance Ministry and National Tax Service officials.

Included in the list of items to be investigated are suspicions over bribes allegedly paid to �the senior-most government official�, which refers to congratulatory money said to have been paid to president-elect Roh Moo-hyun following his victory in the 2002 presidential election. Democratic Party spokesman Yoo Jong-pil, who was chief secretary for communications in Roh�s campaign camp, said Roh�s aides were �going crazy� with money after December 2002. Because the authorized investigative period is a maximum 125 days in all, the probe can continue until after Feb. 25, which marks the end of the Roh administration. Ex-presidents lose their immunity and can be investigated.

The three progressive parties flexed their anti-corruption alliance to include the underhand transfer of Samsung Group ownership on the list of items to be investigated. But that case is already being handled by the Supreme Court, and state prosecutors have voiced their willingness to investigate further depending on the ruling. We must consider whether it is proper to have a special counsel dig into the internal affairs of a business when the role of the counsel is to probe abuses of power while being free from outside pressure. Also, considering the significance of Samsung for the Korean economy, we must consider whether the investigation could harm the conglomerate�s operations.

Samsung must be feeling tremendous pressure right now as it faces the prospect of being investigated by a special counsel. But if the group has done nothing wrong, as it has been insisting all along, then it has nothing to fear. It can face the investigation openly and fearlessly. Kim, the former Samsung attorney, must reveal all of his evidence and cooperate with the counsel.

Since the investigation will start at least a month from now, the individuals involved may either destroy evidence or coordinate their stories to mask the truth. It is the role of the special investigations team at the prosecutor�s office to prevent this.

The government, state prosecutors and Samsung are being put to the test.