Roh to Name Prosecutor Monday to Probe Lee Myung-bak

President Roh Moo-hyun will name an independent prosecutor to investigate allegations that President-elect Lee Myung-bak was involved in a financial fraud in 2001, Cheong Wa Dae announced Wednesday.

Roh's spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said Supreme Court Chief Justice Lee Yong-hun is obliged to recommend two candidates for the special prosecutor's post by Thursday under a bill approved at a Cabinet meeting last week.

Roh will select one of the two as the independent counsel to investigate the President-elect, Cheon told a media briefing.

The bill makes it mandatory for the independent counsel to complete his or her investigation before Lee's inauguration on Feb. 25.

Lee, who won a landslide victory in the Dec. 19 election on the ticket of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP), is the nation's first President-elect to face criminal investigation.

The bill was passed two days before the election by the pro-government United New Democratic Party and minor parties.