Kim’s Son Is Held in Graft Scandal

The youngest son of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung was arrested Saturday night on charges that he took nearly $2 million from a lobbyist in return for helping businesses win contracts.

Although there has been no suggestion that the president is implicated, the scandal is certain to tarnish the legacy of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and to complicate Kim’s efforts to advance peace negotiations with North Korea during his last year in office.

The youngest of three sons, 39-year-old Kim Hong Gul is a graduate student who was working most recently as a researcher at Pomona College. He lives in Rancho Palos Verdes in a house reported to have cost $950,000, raising questions about how a student could afford such a lavish lifestyle.

The younger Kim voluntarily flew back to Seoul last week to face questioning by prosecutors. He turned himself in Saturday night after an arrest warrant was issued. South Korean television showed the exhausted-looking man being taken to a Seoul detention center.

“I am sorry to have caused concern to so many people. I am sorry to my parents,” he murmured to television reporters.

The son’s arrest caps a tumultuous scandal, complete with secret tape recordings and shocking headlines, that has been swirling around the president’s family for months. The charges center on a business relationship the younger Kim had with a Korean American lobbyist, Choi Kyu Sun, who also has been arrested. According to a court statement, the son received nearly $2 million in cash and stock from the lobbyist to help various companies, including a sports-betting company called Tiger Pools that was trying to obtain a national lottery.

A spokesman for the president said today that the South Korean leader is aware of the arrest but will continue to concentrate on conducting official business.

The president’s second son, Kim Hong Up, also is under investigation on allegations that he mishandled money that belonged to a peace foundation set up by his father.

There is a long tradition in South Korean politics of the children of politicians being prosecuted for corruption, especially during election years. Almost five years ago, the son of then-President Kim Young Sam was summoned to the same prosecutors’ office to face similar corruption charges. The son, Kim Hyun Chul, was later sentenced to two years in prison.

Western diplomats say they expect more arrests and allegations as the presidential campaign heats up. Under South Korean law, President Kim cannot seek another five-year-term.

The presidential election is to be held Dec. 19, with conservative opposition leader Lee Hoi Chang running against Kim’s ally, Roh Mu Hyun.