Top auditor nominee yet to make decision

President Lee Myung-bak’s chief state auditor nominee Chung Tong-ki said Tuesday he was preparing for the parliamentary confirmation hearing despite growing pressure from political parties to withdraw from his position.

“I will do what I have to do,” Chung said in response to a reporter’s question on whether he was getting ready for next week’s confirmation hearing as he entered his office in Seoul.

The ruling Grand National Party called on Chung a day earlier to step down, joining opposition parties in claiming the former senior presidential secretary is unfit as the chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection.

The unprecedented move by the GNP disgruntled the presidential office by stoking speculation that Lee was becoming a lame duck.

There was some dispute within the GNP on Tuesday over the way the party’s leadership made the decision without prior consultations with the presidential office.

GNP floor leader Kim Moo-sung, who was absent from the party’s supreme council meeting Monday due to a trip to China, said it was an indiscreet decision.

“I was simply informed of the decision. They never asked for my consent,” Kim said in a press conference Tuesday.

There should have been confidential discussions between the ruling party and the presidential office, he said.

GNP Chairman Ahn Sang-soo said Tuesday that his party would do its best to reflect public opinion in key state affairs and keep working closely with the Lee administration this year.

Chung is under fire for earning nearly 700 million won in just seven months at a law firm immediately after resigning as the deputy prosecutor general. The main opposition Democratic Party said his law firm salary doubled after he joined the presidential transition team of then president-elect Lee.

The fact that he served as Lee’s top aide for civil affairs also raises questions over whether he is right for the BAI chairman’s job which requires political neutrality and professional independence.

The discord between the GNP and the presidential office fueled the DP’s offensive against Chung.

“We hope Chung promptly resigns to restore the honor of the president as well as his own,” DP floor leader Park Jie-won said in a floor meeting.

“We urge the presidential office to bear its responsibility this time for failing to verify the qualifications of nominees.”

Park also said President Lee should get to the bottom of the alleged involvement of Cheong Wa Dae officials and police chiefs in an escalating bribery scandal related to construction site catering contracts.

An official in charge of Cheong Wa Dae’s internal inspection tendered his resignation Monday as he was accused of taking bribes from a broker.

“Cheong Wa Dae must take responsible measures to reprimand those involved in the scandal and the personnel screening process,” Park said.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)