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Agence France-Presse

South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday summoned conservative former president Lee Myung-bak for questioning as a criminal suspect in a bribery scandal, the country’s latest former head of state to be investigated.
“We need to investigate former president Lee to find the truth in a transparent and effective manner,” Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified Seoul prosecutor as saying.
Allegations of corruption involving the 76-year-old’s relatives and aides during his 2008-2013 presidential term have mounted in recent weeks as prosecutors investigate several cases of bribery amounting to millions of dollars.

Two of the ex-president’s former aides have been arrested and the homes and offices of his brothers raided.
Lee was told to present himself to prosecutors on Wednesday, March 14 to be questioned as a “suspect”, Yonhap said.
South Korean presidents have a tendency to end up in prison – or meet untimely ends – after their time in power, usually once their political rivals have moved into the Blue House.

Lee’s successor Park Geun-hye was ousted last year over a massive corruption scandal that emerged in 2016.
The verdict in her trial on charges of bribery and abuse of power is due next month, with prosecutors demanding 30 years in jail.
Lee’s own predecessor, the liberal Roh Moo-hyun, committed suicide by jumping off a cliff after being questioned over corruption allegations in 2009.

Two other former conservative presidents, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, were jailed for corruption and subversion related to the 1979 military coup and bloody 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju.
The allegations against Lee include claims that the Samsung Group bought a presidential pardon in 2009 for its chairman Lee Kun-hee, who had been convicted of tax evasion and given a suspended jail sentence.
Samsung reportedly paid six billion won (US$5.6 million) in legal fees to a US law firm on the former president’s behalf.

Both Samsung and Lee have denied the allegations. Lee has dismissed the investigation into him as “political revenge”.
“I feel saddened that the country is being shaken to its foundation by recent attempts to roll back history,” he said in January.
His office said on Tuesday that he would comply with the prosecutors’ summons, but wants to reschedule the date.

Current left-leaning President Moon Jae-in has vowed to “fix past wrongs” in the country’s governance, calling them “accumulated evils”.
According to reports, Lee is also accused of accepting 2.2 billion won from former state-financed Woori Financial Group CEO Lee Pal-sung in return for helping him assume the post.
He also allegedly pocketed 1.7 billion won of secret funds from the country’s spy agency, received 400 million won in bribes from a lawmaker, and hundreds of thousands of won from a construction company as a kickback for awarding a government project.
In addition, Lee is said to be accused of embezzling millions of dollars from DAS, an auto parts company he allegedly owns under the names of his relatives.


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South Korea

Former South Korean leader Lee Myung-bak to be questioned over bribery claims

File photo of former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak at the East Asian Summit in Phnom Penh in 2012. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2017, file photo, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, left, arrives to attend a hearing on the extension of her detention at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea. Prosecutors on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 have demanded a 30-year prison term for Park for alleged bribery, abuse of power and other crimes in a landmark corruption case that marked a stunning fall from grace for the country’s first female leader and former conservative icon. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

epa06509127 South Korea's former President Lee Myung-bak (L) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, east of Seoul, South Korea, 09 February 2018. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

epa06507952 Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (L) attends a reception for global leaders to mark the opening of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in the host town of PyeongChang, east of Seoul, 09 February 2018. Lee reportedly faces a prosecution probe over corruption and other charges. South Korea won the right to host the PyeongChang Games in 2011 during Lee's term in office. The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games will be opened later today. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2007, file photo, then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, left, toasts with then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il after exchanging a joint reconciliation pact, at a farewell lunch in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim and Roh agreed to pursue a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War and reached a set of cooperation projects. But most of the accords were shelved after Roh's single five-year term ended months later and was replaced by a conservative who took a harder line over the North's nuclear ambitions. (Korea Pool Photo/Yonhap via AP, File)

epa06578354 A female member from the leftist People's Democracy Party stages a one-person protest calling for the detainment of former President Lee Myung-bak in front of his residence in Seoul, South Korea, 04 March 2018. The prosecution is currently looking into the allegations against Lee, including bribery and abuse of power, during his tenure. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

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The move means all living former South Korean presidents have now either been convicted, charged or embroiled in criminal inquiries.


Former South Korean leader Lee Myung-bak to be questioned over bribery claims

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The move means all living former South Korean presidents have now either been convicted, charged or embroiled in criminal inquiries.

The move means all living former South Korean presidents have now either been convicted, charged or embroiled in criminal inquiries.