[Editorial] Cheong Wa Dae: Bad Judgment or Hiding Something?

One new fact after another is surfacing in the prosecution's investigation into the Korea Railroad's oilfield development project. Prosecutors have found that Korea Railroad went to unreasonable means to go ahead with the project, and the bank that lent it money broke regulations on lending money. They have still not gotten to what is most key to the case. Meanwhile it has become apparent that Cheong Wa Dae's situation room performed its own investigation last year but did not report its findings to the president until recently.

The situation room received a report from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) on November 9 of last year, and so had a staff member investigate. It discovered there were problems but, believing what it was told about it a cancellation of the contract being possible, staff members decided against bringing it up again. Granted, one understands how at the time they might have thought it was unnecessary to take any action. But it is hard to understand why they did not report what they had found to higher-ups even after the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) started on an audit and Cheong Wa Dae's civil affairs office started looking into what had happened. It makes you suspect that he situation room would have kept the matter a secret had not the prosecution gotten involved.

The situation room was not the only problem. The NIS gave the same report to the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, and four other places. Part of its report said there needed to be consultation between the relevant ministries, but none of them ever did anything. Either there was something they did not like about it or that was bureaucracy at the extreme. BAI found that a police official working at the situation room looked into the oilfield project and yet committed more than your usual mistake by letting that fact just go by.

Maybe, as Cheong Wa Dae is saying, it was just a mistake that the situation room failed to report the matter to the president, because having done an investigation is not something that is a problem or should be kept secret. But there is no small number of people taking note of the fact that National Assembly Lee Kwang Jae, who is suspected of involvement in the project, is personally quite close to everyone working in the situation room. The prosecution says that it can only investigate if there is reason to believe laws were broken, but since the suspicions have grown significantly it should look into that area as well with a thorough investigation to reveal the truth.

The Hankyoreh, 26 April 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]