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Lee Myung-bak is shown in his Gangnam District office following his receipt of an invitation to attend the Pyeongchang Olympics from Blue House Secretary for Political Affairs Han Byung-do on Jan. 31. (Photo Pool)
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Former president Lee “may be the most corrupt” leader since South Korea’s democratization, says prosecutorial source
The timeline for bribes allegedly accepted by former President Lee Myung-bak has been found to largely overlap with prosecutors’ investigation of his predecessor Roh Moo-hyun in early 2009. Some of the alleged acts of bribery that prosecutors are now investigating took place before or after this period. Critics are accusing Lee of adopting a shameless double standard by accepting the money around the same time that another former President was being investigated on similar charges. According to an investigation by the Hankyoreh on Mar. 4, Lee’s large legal defense costs in connection with a U.S. lawsuit involving the company DAS were paid on his behalf by Samsung between late 2007 and early to mid-2009. “A large part of the money question was delivered around one year after Lee had taken office as President,” a source with the prosecutors said. Prosecutors also suspect Hyundai Motor of delivering funds of a similar nature. They are currently investigating the funds, which amount to millions of US dollars, as “direct bribes” by the companies to Lee as the “true owner” of DAS. If true, the allegations would mean that Lee was accepting large sums of money behind the scenes from Samsung and other companies while Roh’s investigation was in full swing. Newly staffed following appointments in Jan. 2009, the central investigation division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office under chief prosecutor Lee In-kyu and managing prosecutor Woo Byung-woo investigated Roh on bribery charges until his death by suicide on May 23 of the same year. Lee Myung-bak’s alleged acceptance of ten payments totaling 1.4 billion won (US$1.3 million) from former Woori Financial Group chairman Lee Pal-sung is also believed to have occurred between 2009 and 2011. Lee is further alleged to have directed his lifelong “steward” Kim Baek-joon to accept 400 million won (US$372,000) in National Intelligence Service special activity funds in April–May 2008 and July–August 2010. All of these times were either immediately before or immediately after Roh’s investigation. The charges extend beyond bribery. Soon after taking office in 2008, Lee accused Roh of improperly leaking official documents by taking copies of presidential archival materials to his residence in Bongha Village. An investigation by prosecutors ensued, and Roh sent an open letter to Lee protesting the move. A recent search and seizure by prosecutors on the Youngpo Building, however, uncovered evidence that Lee himself took larger numbers of archival materials with him when he left office – as original documents rather than copies. “In terms of direct bribery alone, [Lee] may be the most corrupt President since [South Korea’s] democratization,” said a member of the prosecutorial team who took part in a past investigation of a former President. “The word ‘shameless’ seems positively mild when you consider that he is alleged to have continued taking money around the same time former President Roh was being investigated,” the prosecutor added. By Kang Hee-cheol, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
