Jong-Heon Lee from UPI is reporting Summit scandal hits S.Korea
South Korea's much-touted efforts to reconcile with North Korea suffered a major setback as a controversy flared up that President Kim Dae-jung had bribed the communist regime to stage a historic inter-Korean summit in 2000.Being a nutcase dictator means long hours, but the pay is good!
A former intelligence officer has revealed that the South Korean leader funneled some 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) to his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Il, in return for holding the summit, and lobbied foreign countries to get the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.
With the cash, North Korea purchased key components for nuclear weapons, 40 Soviet-made MiG jets and a submarine from Kazakhstan, said the former agent known only by his family name, Kim.
The flap came just after government auditors confirmed that the country's giant business conglomerate Hyundai secretly transferred some $200 million, obtained from a South Korean state-run bank, to North Korea just ahead of the summit in June 2000.
Auditors said the purposes of the expenditures were unclear, but opposition lawmakers say the money was given to the North as "payment" for the unprecedented inter-Korean summit, which helped Kim Dae-jung win the Nobel Peace Prize. Under South Korean law, any secret financial aid to North Korea is illegal.
