South Korea’s prime minister has offered to resign amid a bribery scandal just two months after he took up the country’s No. 2 post, officials said yesterday, in the latest political crisis to hit South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
Lee Wan-koo has been at the center of a corruption scandal that flared after a businessperson killed himself earlier this month, leaving a memo listing the names of eight high-profile figures he said he had bribed. Most of the eight men, including Lee, are considered as close associates of Park.
Sung Wan-jong told a local daily before his death that he gave 30 million won (US$27,713) to Lee in 2013.
Lee has denied the allegation, but he has seen growing calls to resign after South Korean media reported alleged evidence that indicates his ties to Sung.
Lee’s office yesterday said he conveyed his resignation offer on Monday to Park, who was in Peru on a four-nation trip.
Park described Lee’s resignation offer as “very regrettable” and said she “felt the prime minister’s agony,” according to a statement on the Web site of South Korea’s presidential Blue House.
Park also called for a thorough investigation into the scandal, the statement said.
South Korean presidential spokeswoman Chun Hye-ran said she has not been informed whether Park would accept the resignation.
The latest scandal comes as Park struggles to deal with criticism over her government’s handling of last year’s ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people. Violence broke out at a Seoul rally on Saturday led by relatives of the ferry victims and their supporters, leaving dozens of people injured.
Park has also faced criticism over what analysts say is her poor communication with the public and lack of transparency on personnel appointments.
Some of her prior picks for prime minister and the Cabinet have had to withdraw from the nomination process after allegations about their ethical lapses and problematic past behavior emerged.
Lee’s alleged involvement in the scandal came as a surprise after he announced a government plan last month to fight graft in what critics say was an attempt to target associates of former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak.
Sung, who was investigated after Lee Wan-koo’s anticorruption campaign announcement, had said he was betrayed by the prime minister and victimized, according to South Korean media outlets.
South Korea’s executive power is concentrated in the president, but the prime minister leads the country if the president becomes incapacitated.
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