Assemblyman Park Deok-heum Faces Multiple Prosecutor Complaints for Bribery and Breach of Duty Charges

'Golf Course Acquisition Related' Accusation Case Assigned to Central District Prosecutors' Office Investigation Division

Park Deok-heum, member of the People Power Party./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Reports of accusations against Park Deok-heum, a member of the People Power Party, are increasing.

On the 21st, according to the legal community, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office assigned the case in which the Korea Specialty Contractors Association and others recently accused Park of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes to Investigation Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Ji-wan).

Previously, former heads of the Korea Specialty Contractors Association and the Specialty Construction Mutual Aid Association accused Park, stating that "in 2009, when Park was the chairman of the Korea Specialty Contractors Association, he purchased a golf course in Eumseong-gun, Chungbuk, owned by an acquaintance, at 20 billion KRW above market price, causing financial damage to the Construction Mutual Aid Association," and reported him to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the civic group Halbindan filed a complaint against Park at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office on charges of bribery and violation of the Public Officials Ethics Act.

Halbindan is known to have claimed in the complaint that the several billion KRW worth of contracts Park received from supervised institutions are tantamount to bribes.