President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday turned down the resignation of his aide who offered to take responsibility for recent partisan strife over his retirement home plan.

Lee Dal-gon, senior secretary for political affairs, tendered his intention to step down on Oct. 3 as the ruling and opposition parties clashed after the presidential office refused opposition-named candidates for an independent counsel to probe alleged foul play in the now-defunct project.

The 58-year-old secretary has been assisting the president since February.

The case centers around a 5.4 billion won ($4.8 million) contract for a site on the southern tip of Seoul, bought by the president’s son, Si-hyung, and the presidential security service for his retirement home and other facilities.

Opposition lawmakers suspect that the payment was not shouldered equally but that the security service bore a bigger portion, effectively helping his son pocket spare cash. Lee is also accused of misappropriating about 1 billion won of public funds.

Cheong Wa Dae denies the allegation. The outgoing president later scrapped the plan and decided to move into his current personal residence in Nonhyeon-dong in southern Seoul.

Late last week, he appointed Lee Kwang-bum, a liberal-minded lawyer, to head the special investigation into the scandal.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)