By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A special prosecutor and his team launched Tuesday a high-profile investigation into allegations that President-Elect Lee Myung-bak took part in a financial scam in 2001.
Special prosecutor Chung Ho-young did not rule out the possibility of summoning Lee for questioning as he said the special team, which opened its headquarters at a building in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, will mobilize all means necessary to conduct a thorough investigation.
The special prosecutor will team up with five assistant prosecutors appointed by incumbent President Roh Moo-hyun and 10 other prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice. The first ever probe into a president-elect will last for up to 40 days. The results will be released around Feb. 22, three days before the new President's inauguration.
``We will conduct a complete investigation with the commitment to eliminate all suspicions,'' Chung said, emerging from a naming ceremony at the special prosecutor team's office. ``We will mobilize whatever methods are required. And will implement them as necessary.''
His remarks indicate that the special team could summon Lee, if necessary. But the special prosecutor is likely to see some limitations regarding the investigation of some key suspects including the President-elect since the Constitutional Court ruled on Jan. 10 that summoning individuals without warrants was unconstitutional.
The probe will focus on clarifying whether the President-elect was the de facto owner of the investment firm BBK and if he collaborated with Kim Kyung-joon, the former head of the firm who is now on trial for manipulating stock prices.
Lee denies all allegations but there are still several questions that require clearing up. One is a video clip recorded in October 2000 at Kwangwoon University in Seoul that was made public a few days before the presidential election held on Dec. 19 last year.
In the video Lee said ``after returning to Seoul, I established an Internet-based financial institution named BBK and it recorded a 28.8 percent investment return as of September this year.''
The former Seoul mayor made some ambiguous remarks on the matter in his New Year's news conference Monday.
``Korea is a law-governed country. I will follow the decision of the Constitutional Court. The prosecution conducted the investigation thoroughly. I am sure the special prosecution will do its work in a fair and unbiased fashion,'' Lee said. But he did not say whether he would comply with a request for a summons by the special prosecutor.
Meanwhile, the former BBK head Kim Kyung-joon denied allegations that he had manipulated stock prices and embezzled company money at the first hearing of his trial held on Monday at Seoul Central District Court.
Claiming that prosecutors had tried to persuade or threaten him during questioning, Kim said ``they broke principles and violated the individual freedom guaranteed in the constitution. As an American, I cannot stand it. If you allow me bail, I will give more details of their wrongdoings.''