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S Korea's former president faces bribery allegations

Former President Kim Dae-jung will not be questioned over allegations that his government bribed communist North Korea to participate in a historic 2000 summit, the government said yesterday.

Earlier yesterday, President Roh Moo-hyun met with special counsel Song Doo-hwan, who is investigating the allegations. Song told Roh that he "does not plan to question former President Kim Dae-jung, and he does not even consider such a possibility," Roh's office said in a statement after the meeting.

Song had earlier arrested three of Kim's former aides on charges related to the summit, which was Kim's crowning achievement and helped him win the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.

The investigation focuses on US$500 million that South Korea's Hyundai conglomerate sent to North Korea shortly before the June 2000 summit.

Opposition leaders accused Kim's administration of arranging some of the money to bribe the North to agree to the summit. They demanded that he be questioned.

Hyundai says it gave the money to the North to secure business rights there covering tourism, railways and an industrial park.

The three detained aides have been arrested on charges of persuading state-run Korea Development Bank to extend loans to Hyundai, which then sent the money to the North.

One of them, Kim's former Chief of Staff Park Ji-won, was also accused of taking US$12.5 million in bribes from Hyundai.

Yesterday, the special counsel said he did not need to question Kim because his investigation has already achieved its goal, which was to determine whether Hyundai received its loans legally and whether some of the money sent to the North was a payoff from Kim's government.

Roh's office has opposed the special counsel questioning Kim, calling it unnecessary.

Before he announces his findings, the special counsel said he needed more time to probe how Park used the alleged bribes he received from Hyundai.

The former president, who left office in February after a five-year tenure, has said his government approved Hyundai's money transfers to North Korea -- despite "legal problems" -- because they facilitated peace on the peninsula.

Relations on the Korean Peninsula improved, but deteriorated in Kim's final year.
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