Kwak rebuffs Han's 'facts' claim; Han fires back over New Jersey apartment

Kwak Sang-eon, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and son-in-law of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, on Saturday rebuffed independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon's claim that bribery allegations against Roh were factual, saying he would "take responsibility" if Han could clearly show and confirm the facts.

Kwak made the remarks in a Facebook post, saying Han "dares" to call all the investigations and media reports "facts."

Earlier, Han had posted on Facebook claiming the Democratic Party had used what he called the "deification of former President Roh" as a pretext for prosecutorial reform. Han said it was "a lie" for the Democratic Party to officially maintain that Roh or his family had not received two Piaget watches worth 300 million won ($216,000) and tens of billions of won from Park Yeon-cha, described as Roh's sponsor, adding, "What I'm saying is fact."

In response, Kwak said he had participated in the 2009 investigation as defense counsel and had also been questioned as a reference witness and a quasi-suspect. He added that for more than a decade, people from both progressive and conservative quarters had accused him and his family of accepting bribes, "subjecting us to repeated criticism and insults at every political turn."

Kwak said Han himself "may look at this and assume that the investigations and media reports at the time were all true," but added that even he — having been both a subject of the investigation and defense counsel — did not know "which parts were true and to what extent."

He explained that he had initially joined the case as defense counsel but later found himself under investigation. He said he would take responsibility if the facts were confirmed, "regardless of whether I was involved or not."

Han immediately responded with his own Facebook post, saying he would ask Kwak directly "not as former President Roh's son-in-law, but as a sitting member of the National Assembly." Han asked whether it was not a fact that Kwak and his wife had received part of the purchase price for an apartment they bought in New Jersey from Park Yeon-cha, Roh's sponsor.

Han pressed further, asking whether Kwak had received money from Park to cover an apartment to live in during his studies in the United States. "Ultimately, Roh himself or his family received a large sum from Park to buy an apartment in the US for Kwak and his wife — does Kwak have anything to say about that?" Han said.