South Korea's government was embroiled yesterday in a budding scandal over alleged payoffs to North Korea, adding a new twist to the international nuclear standoff with the communist country.
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung was accused last fall by opposition leaders of secretly funneling 400 billion won (US$341 million) to North Korea ahead of his historic 2000 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
If true, the payment was seen as helping seal the meeting, which helped earn the Kim Dae-jung a Nobel Peace Prize that year for his overtures to the North.
Allegations died down but flared again Friday, when President-elect Roh Moo-hyun said that prosecutors should investigate the matter. Roh, from Kim's ruling Millennium Democratic Party, takes office next month.
"If the investigation has not taken place before Roh's inauguration, an investigation will take place after Roh's inauguration," Roh's spokesman, Lee Nak-yon, was quoted as saying by local media.
The opposition Grand National Party issued a statement yesterday saying it will "closely watch" whether Roh follows through with the push to investigate.
The scandal could dampen public support for the 2000 summit, which sparked unprecedented reconciliation projects between the divided Koreas. Kim's opponents accused him of giving too much to the North for too little in return.
Doubts are resurfacing at a time when South Korea has tried to capitalize on its ties with Pyongyang to help mediate a diplomatic end to the current nuclear dispute. Roh has made diplomatic engagement of the North a top priority.
When the allegations first surfaced, President Kim's spokesman dismissed them as a "groundless" political ploy by the Grand National Party.
Roh's resolve to investigate could be an effort to put doubts behind his fledgling administration and keep its plans for continued engagement on track.
Diplomatic efforts have grown more intense since last week, when North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It has threatened to resume its missile tests and reprocess spent nuclear fuel rods, a possible step toward making nuclear arms.
The current standoff began in October, when the US said Pyongyang had admitted having a secret nuclear program. In response, Washington suspended fuel shipments. North Korea responded by expelling UN nuclear inspectors and said it had reactivated nuclear facilities frozen since 1994.
International pressure is increasing for Washington to take the lead in negotiating with North Korea over the nuclear standoff.
Roh urged the US on Friday to enter direct negotiations with North Korea, and an envoy from Russia -- which has been approached to intervene with the North -- said Washington must take the lead in dealing with the crisis.
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