TONGSUN PARK TO TESTIFY ON HILL TODAY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600170038-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 2004
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: February 28, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Approv
Tongsun Park
Testifr on Hill T
By T. Y R. Reid the trial of his friend and form
er b
i
us
-
Washington Post Staff Writer
ness partner, Richard T. Hanna, a for-
Nearly one year after their inquiry mer Democratic congressman from
began, House investigators probing California who has been Indicted on
Congress' Korean connection willfi- charges of bribery and conspiracy in
pally get their chance today to ques- the Korean case. Hanna's trial is
tion Tongsun Park, the elusive South
Korean who allegedly played a cep- scheduled to open March 20.
tral role in his country's effort to buy Finally, Park is expected to testify
in open hearings before the House
influence in the U.S. government. committee. That should begin in
Park, a Washington-based socialite
who traveled to London and then to about two months.
Seoul whila he was sought by federal If Park's testimony . in the secret
investigators, returned here last week- sessions reflects public statements he
end under terms of a deal he negoti- has made in a series of interviews,
ated with the Justice Dej artment: if House investigators will hear that he
he testifies truthfully about the influ- is an innocent victim of overzealous
ence-buying scheme, he will be spared reporters and federal prosecutors.
prosecution on bribery anti conspiracy
charges against him. Park has scofftd at charges that he
Park will testify in secret session to- intelligence acted gagent service the South Korean
day before members srvin distributing'
y of the House hundreds of thousands of dollars to
Committee on Standards, of Official members of Congress to win their
Conduct. Lenr, Jaworski, the commit-
tee's special counsel, has estimated support for the government of South
K
~U_l QrPan Prn~id: nt n--- g flee.
that the cusuiniLtee would question 1 ai Chung Park for about two weeks. In an interview ye esterday on the
Then Park will face further closed worABC-TV program "Good 1e never
sessions with investigators from the worked for Park stated that he t. He
Senate Ethics Committee, which is or the Seoul government. He
conducting a separate probe of the tions he to his gave some friends in C political Col ess "to
Korean affair. ongress "to
help the American political system in
Park,is also scheduled to testify at my own way." The contributions only
asked him for help, Park said. "
Those statements conflict with evi-
dence brought forth last year in pub-
lic hearings before the House stan.
dards panel
In those hearings, a former chief of
the Korean Central Intelligence
Agency said that Park personally vis.
ited the agency's headquarters in
Seoul to nominate himself as an agent
who could "help Korea's cause" in
Washington.
Witnesses at the hearings said that
the KCIA had a code name for Park's
activities, "Operation Ice Mountain."
The Washington Post recently re-
vealed correspondence in which a
South Korean ambassador asked an
American firm doing business with
Seoul to help pay for Park's lobbying
efforts in Washington.
A report in today's editions of the
Los Angeles Times also suggests that
Park was a secret agent of the Seoul
government. The Times reveals that
Hanna, while still in Congress, wrote
to the South Korean president prais-
ing Tongsun Park's work as an
"agent" and a "representative" of the
Seoul regime.
The investigators may also find that
Park's testimony about the amounts
of money he distributed on Capitol
Hill conflicts with previous evidence
about his activities.
In an interview with Newsweek
magazine, Park said that his political
contributions total about $300,000, not
counting sums he passed to Hanna in
their business dealings.
But the House committee's investi-
gators found that Park had earned
about $9 million in commissions from
American rice sales to South Korea.
Witnesses at. the hearings said Park
told the South Korean government he
would use his commission earnings to
win friends for Seoul in Congress.
Park is staying at a secret "safe
house" in the Washington area under
the watch of U.S. marshals. He ap-
peared in public briefly yesterday
when he was arraigned at the U.S.
courthouse here on a 36-count indict-
ment charging him with involvement
in the Korean influence-buying
scheme.
He pleaded innocent to the charges.
Judge June Green scheduled an initial
conference in the case for May 31. By
then, Park's congressional testimony
maybe completed. If the Justice De-
partment is satisfied that he has testi-
fied truthfully in Congress and at
Hanna's trial, it will move to drop the
charges in accordance with its agree-
ment with Park
roved For Release 2004/06/15 :.CIA=RDP31 M.00980R060600170038-7