Envoy to Libya says ties will remain intact

A Korean legislator, who recently traveled to Libya to resolve espionage allegations, said Wednesday the incident won't lead to severance of the two countries' relations, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Rep. Lee Sang-deuk of the ruling Grand National Party who is an elder brother of President Lee Myung-bak, said he flew to Libya as a special presidential envoy "for the sake of national interest."

"I tried to convince the Libyan government and clarify the situation," Lee said.

"I got the sense that our bilateral relations wouldn't break."

On June 18, Libya deported an agent from the National Intelligence Service on charges of spying on the country's leader, Muammar al-Qaddafi, and his family. After Seoul raised issue with the expulsion, Libya shut down its economic cooperation bureau in Seoul, which had served as a de facto embassy.

Lee told Yonhap that "Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi came to see me on three occasions, without prior appointments," adding, “I told him that (the agent) wasn't engaged in any spying activities."

In their third meeting, Lee said the prime minister assured him that the situation will not "degenerate into a worst-case scenario."