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Uri Party election defeat, possible scandal among speculations for move
President Roh Moo-hyun has accepted the resignation tendered by the nation's top tax official, just one day after Lee Ju-sung, head of South Korea's National Tax Service, offered to step down.
Despite such a swift move by the president, controversy is still mounting as to what prompted Lee to offer to resign in the first place. Lee maintains that he stepped down in order to give an opportunity to his juniors to reach higher posts.
Some media reports said that Lee's resignation comes after a recommendation from the ruling Uri Party's leadership, which had complained that that the tax official's tough policies are responsible for the party's crushing defeat in the May 31 local elections.
Several in the party disagreed with this assertion. "It is impossible for party leadership to force the head of a government agency to step down," an Uri member said.
Others have raised the suspicion that the resignation has something to do with Lee's involvement in a murky property transaction surrounding his residence, located in southern Seoul's affluent district. Lee has been suspected of having concealed his ownership of the house, insisting that he was merely renting the property. Nothing has been confirmed over the scandal, nor has Lee made any statement regarding the allegations.
Other sources suggest that the top tax official's unexpected resignation might have been linked to documents recently delivered from the Korea Independent Commission against Corruption to the presidential office. The documents, the sources say, must have contained information on Lee's involvement in some corruption case. As if on cue, Lee offered to step down just after the documents were delivered.