By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Frontrunner Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday that truth has finally come out as prosecutors cleared him of virtually all allegations linked to a stock price manipulation case which has haunted him throughout his campaign.
The GNP candidate's comments came immediately after prosecutors concluded the former Seoul mayor was not implicated in the illegal business deals in any capacity.
According to the investigation results, Lee was also cleared of the allegation that he was the legitimate owner of the scandal-ridden BBK.
Instead, prosecutors said that his former business partner Kim Kyung-joon is solely responsible for the illegal deals through using forgery and business misconduct.
Lee hailed the investigation results.
``I feel that it is overdue I am cleared of those suspicions, but it is a good thing to know that prosecutors have eventually declared it,'' he said.
GNP leaders said they will request the judiciary authority to take adequate procedures to extradite Kim's wife and sister from Los Angeles to Seoul alleging that they colluded with him to defame the former Seoul mayor.
Lee Myung-bak will continue to take on his campaign schedules and focus on presenting his strong managerial skills to woo voters for the Dec. 19 election, his aides said.
GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup told reporters the results support the contention that the BBK scandal was no more than a lie by Kim to excuse his fraudulent behavior.
``Truth never fails. And it is time for United New Democratic Party (UNDP) candidate Chung Dong-young to move on and stop attacking Lee with malicious statements,'' Kang said.
Urging UNDP leaders to make a public apology, the GNP leaders said the pro-government party's lawmakers should reconsider if they really need to go ahead with a planned protest.
Nominee Chung of the liberal UNDP said he will suspend his campaigning for the time being to protest what he now calls a biased investigation.
The pro-government party accused prosecutors conducting an unfair investigation.
Their furious reaction came after Kim's family disclosed a handwritten note through a weekly magazine Tuesday, which alleged that Kim was pressed by prosecutors to make a statement in favor of the GNP candidate.
The note said that prosecutors told Kim they would seek a more lenient jail sentence if he made a favorable statement regarding Lee.
Kim's family claimed that Kim wrote the note when he talked with his mother after questioning by the prosecution in Seoul.
Prosecutors denied Kim's allegation, saying his lawyer was with him when he met and spoke with his mother.