Cash-for-summit () is the name of a

political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, uneth ...

that broke in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in February 2003 and revolved around the secret payment by the

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...

administration to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

of 500,000,000 dollars to secure the landmark June 2000 NorthSouth summit between the two Koreas. The payment, worth 500,000,000 dollars, was criticized by right wing groups of South Korea in particular. Some of them claimed that Kim Dae-jung had "bought" his 2000

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

that he received following the diplomatically successful summit. According to scholar

Andrei Lankov Andrei Nikolaevich Lankov (russian: Андрей Николаевич Ланьков; born 26 July 1963) is a Russian scholar of Asia and a specialist in Korean studies and Director of Korea Risk Group, the parent company of NK News and NK Pro ...

, these accusations have a "kernel of truth", since Kim was known for never missing an opportunity to promote his lifelong political career.

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

claimed the money was a payment for exclusive business rights in electric power facilities, communication lines, an industrial park, cross-border roads and railway lines in North Korea. It transferred $500 million to the North just months before the summit, triggering criticism that the

South Korean Government The Government of South Korea is the union government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of state and is the ...

paid for the summit. Following this,

Park Jie-won Park Jie-won(; born 5 June 1942) is a South Korean politician who served as Director of the National Intelligence Service. He was the chief presidential secretary to President Kim Dae-jung, and served as the Minister of Ministry of Culture ...

, the chief presidential secretary, was charged with violating domestic laws on foreign exchange trade and inter-Korean cooperation affairs while orchestrating covert money transfers by Hyundai to North Korea. Park played a pivotal role in arranging the first

Inter-Korean summit Inter-Korean summits are meetings between the leaders of North and South Korea. To date, there have been five such meetings so far (2000, 2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first ...

between South and North Korean leader in June 2000. In May 2006, he was sentenced to three years in prison. Park was released in February 2007, and subsequently pardoned in December 2007.

had been nominated for the

every year from 1987 to 2000. His nominations were in recognition of his work towards the Inter-Korean summit, and his lifelong commitment to democracy. The Nobel Committee decided to award the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize to Kim for his work to preserve democracy and human rights in formerly authoritarian South Korea and East Asia, and for his efforts to establish peace and reconciliation with North Korea and Japan. Additionally, his diplomatic activities in campaigning against repression in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

in 1999 were considered.

References

External links

"South Korean leader says move was meant to aid 'sunshine' policy"
The International Herald Tribune, January 31, 2003.
Claim Bolstered That N. Korea Took Summit BribeSouth Korea convicts six over summitRoh rejects extension of probe on cash-for-summit scandalKey figures in cash-for-summit scandal receive suspended terms
Political scandals Politics of North Korea Politics of South Korea North Korea–South Korea relations {{Korea-stub

See also

References

External links