Frontrunning presidential candidate, Lee Myung-bak, Wednesday cemented his lead for the Dec. 19 vote, as prosecutors cleared him of virtually all allegations linked to a 2001 financial scam which has haunted him throughout his campaign.
Doubts, however, still linger over the high-stake probe after Lee's former business partner leaked a memo refuting the credibility of the probe on the eve of the prosecution's announcement. Rival candidates cancelled their campaign tours in protest.
After a month-long investigation into the potentially explosive case, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office indicted Lee's former business partner, Kim Kyung-joon, for rigging shares and embezzling 38.4 billion won ($41.9 million) in corporate funds in 2001.
Prosecutors, however, failed to secure evidence to prove Lee of the major opposition Grand National Party collaborated with Kim.
The GNP applauded the probe result, warning the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) against an "anarchistic" move against the prosecution. The rival party has said Lee will "be gone only with a single blow" if the truth is revealed.
"The pro-government party, expecting that their 'single-blow' dream will evaporate, has suspended campaign tours to hold rallies against the prosecution," Rep. Park Kye-dong, head of the GNP's committee for countering political maneuvers, said in a party meeting. "That is an anarchistic idea that totally denies the functions of the judiciary."
Other candidates joined forces to denounce the prosecution. The UNDP, the largest force in the National Assembly, took the initiative in submitting a bill to establish an independent counsel to dig deeper into the fraud.
Chung Dong-young, the UNDP candidate and former unification minister, noted the bombshell memo by Kim Kyung-joon, which said prosecutors sought a plea bargain with the prime suspect.
In the memo, leaked to a weekly magazine's Internet site late Tuesday, Kim insisted that prosecutors make statements in favor of the leading candidate in return for the prosecution demanding three years of imprisonment for Kim rather than seven years.
"If that is found to be true through investigation, the prosecution's probe will be totally void," Chung said in a KBS television speech Monday night. "The prosecutors in charge of the case should be held accountable."
Lee Hoi-chang, the second-ranking candidate and former GNP chairman now running as an independent, also cancelled his campaign tours to devise measures to refute the prosecution's probe.
Prosecutors were infuriated and threatened to file a defamation suit against Kim Kyung-joon following the release of the memo.
"We are enraged with that manipulative scheme," Choi Jae-gyeong, a lead prosecutor in the 53-member team, said. "We will take due measures against Kim who has damaged the credentials of the prosecution."
Despite the financial scandal and other ethical allegations, GNP's Lee has persistently remained at the top of the race, enjoying around 40 percent of support in opinion polls.
According to a poll of 1,272 adults nationwide unveiled Tuesday by the vernacular daily JoongAng Ilbo, he commands an approval rating of 40 percent, virtually unchanged from a similar survey held a month ago. Lee Hoi-chang, and UNDP's Chung Dong-young garnered approval ratings of 19 and 14 percent, respectively.
(Yonhap)