Chief auditor candidate gives up nomination

Chung Tong-ki, candidate for chief state auditor, gave up his nomination on Wednesday after being pounded for days for a nine-digit salary that he received from a law firm and his role in a prosecution probe.

The nominee has been under pressure to step down following a series of media reports suggesting possible ethical violations.

He bowed out 12 days after he was nominated by President Lee Myung-bak as chief of the Board of Audit and Inspection.

In a news conference in Seoul, Chung apologized to "the people over controversies my appointment has created."

His decision came two days after the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) expressed objections to the nomination.

The GNP move angered the presidential office.

The latest revelation shows Chung might have been behind the illegal surveillance of citizens critical of the government when he served as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs from June 2008 to July 2009.

Chung, 58, was named on Dec. 31 as the chief auditor in a reshuffle of the Cabinet, the presidential secretariat as well as the top posts of some major government agencies.

He allegedly received a monthly salary of about 100 million won ($89,500) while working for a Seoul-based law firm for seven months in 2008, after serving briefly on Lee's presidential transition team.