Political crisis is brewing anew in South Korea. This time it is because of President Roh Moo-hyun's decision to halt an investigation by a special prosecutor into allegations against his predecessor. The charges are that Kim Dae-jung's summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il resulted from a huge bribe channelled through the Hyundai Group. Inevitably, they recall dramatic events three decades ago in the United States, when then president Richard Nixon sought to dismiss special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Attorney-General Elliot Richardson resigned, rather than carry out the order to dismiss Mr Cox; his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, was fired after he, too, refused to carry out the order. These events of October 20, 1973, came to be known as the Saturday Night Massacre. The difference, of course, is that in the US, the special prosecutor was investigating a sitting president, while in South Korea the independent counsel was investigating activities under a former president. But Mr Roh did run for president as a member of Mr Kim's political party. Refusal to allow the independent counsel to do his job will be seen widely as a cover-up. Even before he became president, Mr Roh was unenthusiastic about the idea of investigating the allegations. Even after Mr Roh signed into law the bill appointing an independent counsel, he was opposed to any investigation of Mr Kim, preferring the investigation be limited to senior aides. This would be like the Watergate special prosecutors being limited to investigating the activities of White House chief of staff Bob Haldeman and special assistant on domestic affairs John Ehrlichman, but not those of Nixon himself - clearly an unacceptable situation. But, as recently as two weeks ago, this was precisely what Mr Roh tried to do. The chief presidential secretary, Moon Hee-sang, said on June 12: 'In view of the common acknowledgment reached between the ruling and opposition parties at the time when President Roh accepted the special counsel law, it is not appropriate to investigate former president Kim Dae-jung.' Shortly before leaving office, Mr Kim publicly apologised for the payments scandal but insisted that both his activities and those of his assistants should not be subject to legal scrutiny. He insisted they had acted to safeguard national interests. Song Doo-whan, the independent counsel, said he was sorry the probe would be stopped due to political considerations and pointed out that the political independence of the special counsel was supposed to be guaranteed. On Wednesday, he declared that the Kim Dae-jung administration had agreed to pay North Korea US$100 million to take part in the historic June 2000 inter-Korean summit. Many of Mr Kim's closest political associates now stand accused of serious charges. These include Park Jie-won, Mr Kim's former chief of staff, Lim Dong-won, former chief of the National Intelligence Service and Lee Ki-ho, ex-senior economic adviser. As a result of Mr Roh's decision, the opposition Grand National Party, which controls a majority in the national assembly, is attempting to push through the appointment of another special counsel, with even greater powers, to continue the work of Mr Song. In the end, the public's desire to know the truth about the affair must be satisfied. Mr Roh can only delay the process. He cannot stop it. Mr Kim, meanwhile, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his summit meeting, has been reduced to a rather pathetic figure. His eldest son has been charged in relation to a bank lobbying scandal. His second son is in prison and his youngest son is on probation. Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based journalist and commentator
