South Korea's parliament voted yesterday to launch a new probe into fraud allegations against presidential opposition frontrunner Lee Myung-bak two days before the country goes to the polls.
A specially appointed independent lawyer will investigate claims including share-rigging, faking documents and embezzlement against Lee, the favorite in tomorrow's election, in the wake of new video evidence.
Analysts said Lee is still expected to win the presidency, but that the affair would cloud his first months in office.
PHOTO: AP
It was unclear when the new probe would start. If elected, he would assume office on Feb. 25 and as president would have immunity from prosecution.
The business-friendly Lee, 65, was cleared on Dec. 5 of a fraud allegedly engineered by his business partner and linked to the BBK investment firm.
However, government allies accused prosecutors of bias and pushed for an independent probe.
Some 160 lawmakers voted in favor of appointing the special counsel, with none against. Lee's conservative Grand National Party (GNP) did not participate.
"The motion on appointing an independent counsel has been passed," a parliamentary official said.
Pressure to reopen the probe was spurred on Sunday with the release of a video clip recorded in 2000 in which Lee appears to say during a speech at a university that he founded BBK.
He had previously denied involvement in the firm.
The video clip came to light after police arrested three men for trying to extort 2 billion won (US$3.2 million) from the GNP in return for withholding the tape.
Lee, a 65-year-old former construction executive, is seen by many as the candidate best suited to reinvigorate the economy after years of relatively modest growth.
When the deadline for opinion polls expired last week, he was almost 30 percentage points ahead of his closest rival.
The request for a special investigator was sent to the government yesterday for approval, and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is expected to endorse it, presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said.
Roh told his justice minister on Sunday to consider reopening the prosecution probe, an action denounced by the GNP as interference in the election.
Roh is barred by the Constitution from standing for a second five-year term. Most of his political allies are members of the newly formed UNDP.
The justice ministry side-stepped Roh's call yesterday but said it would accept any inquiry by an independent counsel.
Lee said yesterday that he made "erroneous remarks" in the university speech while he was promoting a separate new business venture. But he again denied he had owned BBK.
Opponents went for the jugular.
"As of yesterday, GNP candidate Lee Myung-bak is nothing more than a criminal," UNDP candidate Chung Dong-Young said. "He must immediately stand down."
Analysts said the GNP candidate was still expected to win.
The video "will deal a painful but not lethal blow to Lee Myung-bak," said Chun In-young, a political science professor at Seoul National University.
Chun said Lee will still likely win but will be damaged while in office by the possibility of being questioned by an independent counsel, adding: "It may be hard for him to push for strong policies in office."
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS