Widening political scandals

Moon's aides should be subject to thorough investigation

Presidential aides are under investigation over allegations that they interfered in a mayoral election in a bid to help President Moon Jaein's longtime friend become a successful candidate. The aides deny the allegations. However suspicions are growing that Cheong Wa Dae meddled in last year's local election by getting the police to investigate then Ulsan Mayor Kim Gihyeon on corruption allegations to thwart his re-election bid.

The investigation began in March 2018 when the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency raided the offices of Mayor Kim's aides after receiving information from the National Police Agency (NPA). The problem is that the NPA had received a tip-off from the office of the presidential secretary for civil affairs headed by Cho Kuk at time time. Cho was appointed as justice minister in September this year, but he resigned after 35 days in office in the face of strong public protests over corruption allegations against him.

Kim lost the election to Moon's confidant, Song Cheolho, in the June election even though his aides were all cleated of the corruption allegations. And he has since accused the presidential office of orchestrating the investigation to negatively affect his re-election campaign. The prosecution is now investigating Kim's accusation to get to the bottom of Cheong Wa Dae's possible interference in the election.

Kim and his party, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, are calling for the arrest of then Ulsan police chief Hwang Unhah for conducting what they call a politically motivated investigation. They are also demanding a special probe by the National Assembly to shed light on the case.

There is some circumstantial evidence showing that presidential officials were deeply involved in collecting information about Kim. Some critics even raise the possibility of the presidential civil affairs office conducting surveillance on him. It is illegal for the office to put elected officials under surveillance. The office can only keep ranking government officials and the president's family members under its watchful eye to prevent corruption.

On Friday, presidential chief of staff Noh Youngmin flatly denied allegations that Cheong Wa Dae instructed the Ulsan police to investigate Kim. He only said that the office routinely handed information about Kim to the police in a proper way. But it was reported that Baek Wonwoo, then presidential secretary for civic affairs actively called for the police investigation. The presidential office also received nine police reports on the case.

Against this backdrop, Cheong Wa Dae can hardly deny the allegations about its role in the suspected election meddling. Therefore, the office needs to conduct an internal probe into the case, in addition to the expanding investigation by the prosecution.

The law enforcement agency also must make efforts to bare the truth behind a corruption and influence-peddling scandal surrounding former Busan Vice Mayor Yoo Jaesoo. The presidential inspection team looked into Yoo's alleged acceptance of bribes from financial firms while he served as a financial policy director at the Financial Services Commission (FSC). But the investigation ended abruptly without any criminal charges.

The Moon Jaein administration cannot win a fight on corruption without cracking down on presidential aides and government officials for their wrongdoings. It must take bolder measures to ensure a clean and transparent government.