By Nam In-soo Staff reporter
(8)When Rep. Chun Yong-taek first heard Rep. Hur Dae-bum of the ruling New Korea Party had accused opposition leader Kim Dae-jung of dodging military service, he told himself ``same old story.'' During a parliamentary session last year, the ruling party lawmaker also accused Kim of working for Communist North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.
(9)Chun thought, ``enough is enough.'' So he decided to uncover the truth in order to put the issue to rest once and for all. And he believes he has. ``As a freshman politician, I am saddened by the political situation. The ruling party is trying to turn the clock back forty years,'' said Rep. Chun of the main opposition National Congress for New Politics (NCNP).
(10)As a ruling party spokesman took issue with NCNP leader Kim Dae-jung's military record again in August, he flew to New York to meet a former Marine Corps general who emigrated to the United States more than a decade ago. During a taped conversation with the general, Rep. Chun obtained what he went for _ testimony that under the general, Kim led a maritime militia force which fought invading North Korean troops during the war. Back home, the opposition lawmaker gave the press a written transcript of his conversation with the general and a Defense Ministry report virtually confirming the existence and activities of the militia force.
(11)``Before releasing the material to the press, I told Kim what I had done and he was very happy to hear it,'' said Rep. Chun during an interview with The Korea Herald. Kim, who is making his fourth attempt at the presidency in December's presidential poll, complained he had often been misunderstood concerning his military duty and ideological inclinations.
(12)In past presidential elections, the ruling party tried to paint him ``red'' and as a result he was rejected by voters, Kim has said. ``Aa the turn of the century approaches, all other countries are looking to the future. But we are still digging into what happened decades ago,'' said Rep. Chun, a three-star-general turned politician. He argued that it will become more difficult for the ruling party to attack Kim Dae-jung since he is disproving the accusations that he was a Communist.
(13)Recent surveys showed that Kim, who maintains a lead over his rival presidential candidates in the polls, was not affected very much by ruling party offensives in connection with his ideology. Besides defending his party leader, Rep. Chun dealt a heavy blow to the ruling party's presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang. In late July, he claimed Lee's two sons dodged their military service by intentionally losing weight. The claim instantly turned into a bone of contention between the rival parties with Lee apparently on the defensive.
(14)That was about the time when Lee's popularity slid into second or third place in the approval ratings trailing the NCNP's Kim Dae-jung. ``A guy who lost his sons during the Korean War informed me of suspicions surrounding Lee's sons' military duty and I looked into it for weeks before I spoke it out in public,'' said Rep. Chun. The former top military officer also hit out at the Defense Ministry last year when he, tipped off by his military source, said Minister Lee Yang-ho was involved in a bribes-for-military secrets scandal over arms orders.
(15)The defense minister was later sacked and indicted by the prosecution. ``As far as I know, the military want to remain strictly neutral in the coming presidential election. They have ceased to be a veto group against opposition leader Kim Dae-jung,'' said Rep. Chun. ``Kim surely stands a fair chance of winning the election.''