We start with the ″bribery list″ scandal that′s shaking Korea′s political landscape to its core.
Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo faced another round of allegations Tuesday,...after a local newspaper reported additional details from an interview with businessman Sung Woan-jong... that took place before his apparent suicide last week.
Sung told the paper that he gave Lee political funds two years ago.
Choi You-sun reports on the Prime Minister′s response.
Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo says he will be the first to be questioned by prosecutors over allegations he received bribes from Sung Woan-jong, a former lawmaker and head of Keangnam Enterprises.
″If there′s evidence of me receiving bribery from him I should step down. But it′s not true.″
Lee also denied reports published in a local daily, The Kyunghyang Shinmun, in which Sung claimed he delivered 30-million won, or some 27-thousand U.S. dollars to Lee before by-elections in April 2013.
Sung was found dead last Thursday,...carrying a list naming eight current and former politicians, along with amounts of money.
The prime minister was on the list,...as well as the president′s chief of staff Lee Byung-kee, but no specific amount was written beside their names.
As investigators dig into Sung′s suspicious money exchanges, Lee may become the country′s first prime minister to be questioned by prosecutors.
They are also looking into claims that Sung kept a secret ledger of the bribes.
President Park, on Sunday, called for the prosecution to conduct an impartial probe according to law and principles.
Asked about the Kyunghyang report, President Park′s spokesperson said there′s nothing the presidential office can say, and that it′s time to wait for the outcome of the prosecution′s investigation.
Ruling party floor leader Yoo Seong-min said his party′s supreme council agreed the prosecution should start questioning the prime minister.
Opposition party leader Moon Jae-in, meanwhile, called on both the prime minister and the presidential chief of staff to voluntarily step down and submit to prosecutor questioning.
Choi You-sun, Arirang News.
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