Suspicions rise over top prosecutor-nominee's military records

(ATTN: CORRECT nominee's surname in penultimate para)
SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- Severe opposition is expected to put a roadblock in the way of President Lee Myung-bak's plan to appoint a new prosecutor general as the nominee is dogged by allegations that he evaded the country's compulsory military service two decades ago.
Triggered by news reports, controversy has flared up about the legality of the military service exemption granted in 1981 to Han Sang-dae, the current head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office who was nominated by the president on Friday to lead the country's prosecution.
In South Korea, all able-bodied young men must go through three years of military duty, and the fulfillment of military service is considered a key ethical requirement for high-level office holders and politicians.
The news reports said Han underwent unnecessary back surgery in 1981 shortly after he passed the state judicial examination the same year in a possible bid to dodge the compulsory service.
The top Supreme Prosecutors' Office on Monday dismissed the media claims, saying he underwent the surgery because of an illness. The office released a hospital record filed at the time as proof.
The record said Han had been accepted into Seoul National University's hospital in August 1981 for a 21-day stay for his back surgery. The record included doctors' comments about the part of his back on which the surgery was conducted, according to the press release by the prosecution.
"He suffered from a lumbar disc because of the illness that was first caused by playing in football games and worsened during his study time for the state judiciary test," the prosecution said. "That's why he (legally) won the military exemption."
The nominee had no reasons to dodge the service since his passage through the state exam may have guaranteed his seat as a judicial military officer rather than as a rank-and-file soldier, prosecutors added.
"At that time, people usually avoided lumbar disc surgeries that were not as safe as they are now, and having a surgery record naturally led to exemptions," prosecution spokesman Han Chan-sik said, referring to lower rates of surgery success two decades ago when people usually did not risk back operations for military dodging.
Adding to the woes, the main opposition party raised accusations that Han made two false resident registrations, widely used for property speculation, for which he had admitted his wrongdoing.
Despite the refutations by the prosecution agency, the embattled nominee is forecast to face unrelenting opposition and suspicions as he prepares for a National Assembly hearing in the coming weeks on the back of the presidential office's strong support. Parliamentary consent is not necessary for the president's appointment of prosecutor general.

pbr@yna.co.kr