‘Plot to Discredit Lee Myung-bak Under Way’
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
A lawmaker of the main opposition Grand National Party raised a conspiracy theory Thursday that the ruling camp is conducting a clandestine operation aimed at discrediting the leading presidential candidates' chances for election.
``My hunch says that there is a team conducting a special mission of which the primary goal is to put the leading GNP presidential contenders in danger on the campaign trail,'' Rep. Chung Hyung-keun said.
Chung said recently released financial transactions of former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak and his relatives, some of which occurred 20 years ago, could not be obtained without the help of intelligence agencies and National Tax Service.
Lee's camp raised a "Plan B" theory.
``Frontrunner Lee survived the first round ordeal featuring the dogged political attacks over his wealth, which lasted during the whole of last month. Now the anti-Lee alliance has begun a second round of attacks by raising suspicions over his real estate transactions,'' said a spokesman of Lee.
The first round of attacks against Lee focused on his alleged involvement in stock manipulation and property speculation. Consequently, he suffered a blow to his popularity.
Polls showed evidence that Lee's approval ratings had declined as a result from the attacks. However, his frontrunner status remained intact. Surveys conducted in late June indicated Lee maintained a double-digit advantage over his rival, former Party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye.
``As he endured the ill-grounded accusations, the second storm has come and is now pounding the frontrunner,'' the spokesperson continued.
Lee's camp singled out an obscure administrator as the source of the contention.
Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a close aide of former party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, coined a so-called ``Real Estate Gate,'' following a media report over suspicions of Lee's wealth.
The allegation claims the former Seoul mayor may have conducted real estate transactions for speculative purposes, and that the land acquisition equaled one-fourth the size of Yeoido in Seoul.
According to the report, Lee's brother-in-law Kim Jae-jeong made incremental purchases of the huge property during time periods between mid and late 1980. The time frame coincided with the ongoing of national land development projects and new harbor projects.
The media reported that although Kim possessed such massive property, he was heavily in debt. Even his housing was under seizure after he failed to refund his personal debt, which diminished a small portion of his wealth.
Yoo said there was a rumor that Kim might work for Lee as financial manger and, therefore, he was not in a position to use the wealth for his personal gain.
Kim sued Yoo for his alleged spread of false information.