South Korean President Lee Myung-bak yesterday ordered an investigation into claims his government had conducted illegal surveillance of a businessman, officials said.
Opposition parties have said Lee In-Kyu, a senior official in charge of supervising public servants’ ethics, led the unauthorized operation.
The businessman claimed his office was illegally searched after he posted a video clip criticizing the Lee government on his blog in June 2008.
President Lee yesterday ordered his aides to “reveal the truth swiftly and thoroughly, and sternly punish those responsible” for legal breaches, if any were uncovered, according to the presidential office.
Seoul’s YTN television news and other local media said Lee In-kyu, who is only authorized to investigate public servants, had led the operation under the instructions from unidentified aides of President Lee.
Lee In-kyu was suspended from his post on June 21, soon after opposition lawmakers first raised the issue.
His team formally belongs to the Prime Minister’s Office but actually works for the presidential office, according to local media.
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan on Friday also called for a thorough probe, saying his office was considering asking prosecutors to investigate the case.
The president’s office yesterday also refused to confirm reports that Chung would likely resign over the failure of a multi-billion dollar plan to develop a new city as a science, business and education hub.
A senior official at the prime minister’s office told Yonhap news agency on Friday that Chung would likely inform President Lee Myung-bak yesterday of his intention to step down over the failed government plan.
Parliament rejected the Lee government’s proposal on Tuesday, signaling the revival of an earlier plan to relocate nine ministries and four government agencies to Sejong City, 150km south of Seoul.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS