Ex-President Summons

[Anchor Lead]

The prosecution is expected to summon former President Lee Myung-bak in an ongoing corruption investigation after the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games come to an end. A source at the prosecution says it’s planning to obtain as much evidence as possible before summoning the ex-president to preempt any criticism of the probe as political retaliation.​

[Pkg]

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office are simultaneously conducting investigations into allegations surrounding auto parts supplier DAS. Prosecutors secured related statements through questioning Lee Dong-hyung, the vice president of DAS and nephew of former President Lee Myung-bak. Investigations are also gaining speed into allegations that the National Intelligence Service illicitly provided its so called special activity funds to Lee's presidential office and that his government conducted illegal monitoring of civilians. Prosecutors arrested former senior presidential secretary for administrative affairs Kim Paik-joon and former presidential secretary for civil affairs Kim Jin-mo. They are now fully targeting Lee. After receiving reports about the progress of the investigations into DAS and the NIS's special activity funds, the prosecutorial leadership has reportedly concluded that it would be difficult to summon the former president during the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. A prosecution officer said that at the current stage, it is hard to clarify when to summon former president Lee, and that if he is summoned, it will likely come in March after the PyeongChang Olympics. He added that there are more issues that have to be checked. Obtaining evidence is crucial now. Prosecutors believe that they can prevent any disputes over political revenge by summoning Lee after securing as much evidence as possible, which backs statements by key witnesses. They are known to have taken into consideration the fact that they will come under fire for promoting national division if they summon Lee before the PyeongChang Olympic Games, an occasion for peace and harmony.