KIM MOON-KI’S LETTER DISCLOSED

[Anchor Lead]

A handwritten letter has been disclosed which was left by an official at Seongnam Development Corporation before he took his life last month. Kim Moon-ki was a working-level chief overseeing the Daejangdong land development project. In the letter, Kim said he had proposed the retrieval of excess development profits three times but it was rejected by other executives.

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The two-page letter titled “An appeal to the company president” was unveiled by the late official’s family. Kim writes, he proposed three times that a provision be included to enable the recovery of excess profits which had exceeded the company-set standard. But he said his suggestion was not reflected and staff members made decisions in accordance with the project’s bidding plan and subscription guidelines. Such a provision is a type of safety mechanism to prevent private parties from monopolizing profits but there has been speculation the clause was deleted after 7 hours during the process of contract authorization. In the letter, Kim did not specify which official had rejected his idea. But he did write that he didn’t receive any orders, pressure or unjust demands from Yoo Dong-kyu or Chung Min-yong, former officials of the Seongnam Development Corporation who have been indicted. But Kim said that public opinion was portraying him as if he took orders and engaged in illegal acts and even the investigation by the prosecution was proceeding in that direction.

[Soundbite] Kim Dae-sung(Brother of late Kim Moon-ki(Dec. 22)) : "The investigation didn’t reveal anything about the higher-ups while only working-level officials shouldered a great deal of pressure. It seems my brother couldn’t handle it."

A letter from the company delivered to Kim the day before he took his own life has also come into light. It was a notice about requesting disciplinary action against him. He was to be penalized for showing internal corporate records to Chung Min-yong who was now a lawyer and a civilian. Kim also held resentment against the company for this, saying that he didn’t know about Chung’s crimes at the time.