Prosecutors ask opposition leader Lee to appear for questioning next month

▲ Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, speaks during a visit to the southern city of Gwangju on Dec. 28, 2022. (Yonhap)

opposition leader-questioning

Prosecutors ask opposition leader Lee to appear for questioning next month

SEONGNAM, South Korea, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors have asked opposition leader Lee Jae-myung to appear for questioning next month over allegations of third-party bribery after he rejected an earlier summons, officials said Thursday.

Lee, the chair of the Democratic Party (DP), has been under a probe on suspicions that the city government of Seongnam, south of Seoul, attracted some 16 billion won (US$12.6 million) in corporate donations to the city's football club in return for administrative favors between 2016-18, while he was serving as mayor.

The Suwon District Prosecutors Office had initially asked him to appear for questioning Wednesday, but Lee did not comply, citing previous engagements and a parliamentary session.

"We decided to put off his appearance by two weeks and asked him to pick a possible date between Jan. 10-12, and are currently waiting for his reply," a prosecution official said.

Lee's lawyer has also said Lee will only be available for questioning in the second week of January because of a schedule crammed with events for the new year in the first week of 2023, the official said.

The DP leader has denounced the probe as politically motivated, noting the prosecution reopened the case that the police decided to drop last year.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved