A confidant of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun has been indicted for his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal, prosecutors said yesterday.
Prosecutors said Jung Sang-moon, presidential secretary for administrative affairs during the Roh presidency between 2003 and last year, was accused of embezzling 1.25 billion won (US$990,000) from the presidential budget.
He was also accused of accepting 400 million won in bribes from an arrested businessman, shoemaker Park Yeon-cha, before the end of Roh’s term early last year.
DENIAL
Roh denied his role in the case on April 30 when prosecutors questioned him about payments by Park worth US$1 million to Roh’s wife and another payment of US$5 million.
Prosecutors said the US$5 million eventually went to Roh’s son, Roh Gun-ho, through one of his relatives. Roh denied this.
Having won office partly on an anti-corruption platform and served from 2003 to last year, Roh has publicly apologized for his family’s involvement in the case but has not admitted personal wrongdoing.
Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge the former president.
FORMER LEADERS
Five former presidents including Roh have been tarnished by scandals involving either themselves or their families.
Apart from Roh, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo personally faced a criminal probe.
Chun and Roh Tae-woo were convicted in 1995 of receiving bribes and inciting mutiny. Both were sentenced to death but pardoned in 1997.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
RSS