NEW YORK (AP) -- A South Korean businessman faces trial in Manhattan federal court today in a case stemming from the controversial UN oil-for-food program involving Iraq and Saddam Hussein.
Prosecutors say Tongsun Park worked as a UN lobbyist for Saddam's government in the early 1990s.
He was indicted last year for violating US laws by conspiring to commit wire fraud, acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and transporting funds from Iraq to the US to carry out the crime.
Park, a 71-year-old citizen of South Korea, also figured in a notorious 1970s influence-peddling scandal known as Koreagate.
He has pleaded not guilty and could face more than a dozen years in prison if convicted. Opening statements in the case could begin as early as tomorrow.
Prosecutors have asked the judge to ask potential jurors whether they have strong feelings about the war in Iraq that might affect their ability to be impartial.
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