NAT’L ASSEMBLY APPROVES RESIGNATION OF KWAK

[Anchor Lead]

The National Assembly voted to approve the resignation of independent lawmaker Kwak Sang-do. His son sparked a controversy when it was found that he had received five billion won in severance pay when he quit Hwacheondaeyu, a developer in the urban development scandal supposedly involving former Seongnam mayor and current Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The prosecution is ready to speed up the investigation into the former lawmaker to find out about the lobbying activities among political figures

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Lawmakers at the National Assembly’s plenary meeting voted to approve the resignation of independent lawmaker Kwak Sang-do. About a month has passed since Kwak said he would step down in the wake of the controversy surrounding his son’s 5-billion-won severance pay from Hwacheondaeyu.

[Soundbite] Park Byeong-seug(Chair of the Nat’l Assembly) : "I declare that it has been approved with 194 yeas, 41 nays and 17 no votes."

The disgraced lawmaker posted an apology to the people on his social media site. But he repeatedly emphasized that he had nothing to do with the Daejang-dong project or Hwacheondaeyu. The prosecution is likely to speed up investigations into the former lawmaker since his no-arrest privilege has been stripped. Kwak is likely to be summoned as early as next week to be questioned as a suspect. He is suspected of assisting with the organization of the Hana Bank consortium of which Hwacheondaeyu was a part of, and for receiving five billion won in return through his son. According to the prosecution, in 2015 when the development project in Seongnam was in full swing, the former lawmaker met with Chairman Kim Jung-tai of Hana Financial Group to ask him to help prevent the consortium from falling apart. The prosecution reportedly questioned a Hana Bank Consortium executive, a department head surnamed Lee, about Kwak’s involvement. This is likely just the beginning of the prosecution’s probe into a political lobbying network called the“Five Billion Club.” Justice Minister Park Beom-kye told the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee that former special prosecutor Park Yeong-soo and former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il are among the figures to be investigated. Meanwhile, the duration of detainment for Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheondaeyu, and lawyer Nam Wook, arrested on November 4th, has been extended to November 22nd.