President Lee Myung-bak on Friday agreed to a parliamentary proposal to launch a special probe into the controversy surrounding the now-scrapped plan to build his retirement home.
The decision, which came on the deadline for him to accept or veto the motion, appears to reflect concerns about political repercussions a veto could cause, just three months before the presidential election.
“The president, endorsing a probe by an independent counsel on the matter, expressed once again his regret to the public for causing concerns,” Choe Geum-nak, senior presidential secretary for public relations told reporters.
The president also expressed his willingness to fully cooperate in the investigation, he added.
Lee, although he said he agreed with the proposal for a new probe by a special counsel all along, hesitated to accept it, because the bill in his view unfairly empowers the opposition party to choose candidates to lead the investigation. That runs counter to a Constitutional Court ruling that special prosecutors should be neutral and independent of political power, the presidential aide said.
The scandal centers on Lee’s son, Si-hyung, and aides who last year bought a plot of land in Naegok-dong on the southern edge of Seoul for a retirement home for Lee and auxiliary facilities for security personnel there.
They had been accused of violating real estate laws and misappropriating taxpayers’ money. Lee later scrapped the project and decided to move into his existing private house in Nonhyun-dong in southern Seoul after leaving office.
The Presidential Office denied any wrongdoing and all involved, including Shi-hyung, were cleared of charges by state prosecutors in June.
The motion to appoint a special counsel to re-investigate the scandal was led by the main opposition Democratic United Party. It was approved at the National Assembly’s plenary session earlier this month. Now that Lee has accepted the motion, the opposition party will put forward two candidates for the special prosecutor’s post, one of whom will be chosen by the president.
The probe will last for 30 days following a 10-day preparation period. The investigation can be extended once for 15 days upon request.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
