Lee Investigation

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Former President Lee Myung-bak has denied most of nearly 20 corruption allegations levied against him by the prosecution, but he admitted to receiving 100 thousand U.S. dollars from the National Intelligence Service. He has in fact confirmed what his close associate, Kim Hee-jung, said to the prosecution.

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Former President Lee Myung-bak admitted to receiving 100-thousand dollars from the National Intelligence Service for special activities. That was the sole allegation he had admitted to. The prosecution already had the testimony from Kim Hee-joong, former presidential secretary for private affairs, who stated that he delivered 100,000 dollars from the intelligence agency to First Lady Kim Yoon-ok in 2011. The ex-president said that it was he who had received the money, not his wife, and the fund was used for North Korean operations. The prosecution was reportedly quite flustered by Lee's sudden change in attitude. That's because his action consists of a felony and he has been denying most of the allegations. In particular, it is the only one of his former associates' testimonies that he admitted to. The former president claimed that other associates were "lying to save themselves." Former secretary Kim, who had worked for Lee since his days as a legislator, was one of Lee's closest confidantes. Members of the judiciary branch think that the ex-president did not want to provoke Kim. They believe that Lee's trying to prevent Kim from giving additional statements about him. Some see it as a self-rescue measure to block the prosecution from summoning ex-First Lady Kim Yoon-ok. Ex-president Lee made a calculated decision in admitting to the charges, most likely because he does not believe the bribery charges will stick.