It has been confirmed that actor Lee Young-ae paid 5 million won in political support to lawmakers belonging to the National Assembly's Defense Committee.



Since Mr. Lee's husband, Ho-Young Jeong, is a representative of a defense industry that develops military equipment such as special electronic communication equipment, claims were raised that it was inappropriate sponsorship from stakeholders.



Looking at the list of donors exceeding 3 million won last year, which was released by the Central Election Commission, it was found that Mr. Lee donated 5 million won to members of the Democratic Party, Kim Byeong-ju, the people's strength, Han Ki-ho, and Shin Won-sik.



5 million won is the highest amount that can be sponsored under the Political Fund Act.



These lawmakers, sponsored by Mr. Lee, were former military generals and currently belong to the National Assembly's National Defense Council.



Rep. Kim served as the deputy commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command as a reserve army commander, and both Han and Shin were also lieutenant generals.



As such, there is a controversy over whether Mr. Lee paid a large amount of money to the defense commissioners on behalf of her husband, who is the representative of the defense industry.



In particular, it is pointed out that there is a misunderstanding that the National Defense Agency has the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, which oversees the government's weapons development and purchase decisions, as its competent audit organization.



Previously, in 2000, Chung was investigated for handing 50 million won to former Democratic Party member Cheon Yong-taek, who was then the chairman of the National Assembly's defense committee, in exchange for the convenience of military payments, but was not prosecuted because the price was not recognized.



At the time, the prosecution said, "Because Senator Chun judged that the money he received was not in return, he decided not to charge the bribe.



At that time, there were suspicions that several former and current military generals were involved in addition to former lawmaker Chun.



The lawmakers did not know if Chung was in the defense industry, and stated that it was a donation that had nothing to do with him.



In addition to these three lawmakers, Mr. Lee donated 5 million won to Congressman Jeong Jin-seok of People's Strength, who is known to be Lee's uncle.



(Photo = Yonhap News)