A special prosecutor investigating suspicions over a retirement home project of President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday asked the Justice Ministry to ban Lee's only son from leaving the country, officials said.
The office of special counsel Lee Kwang-bum has sought an exit ban for Lee Si-hyung, the 34-year-old son of President Lee, and 10 others, including former presidential security service chief Kim In-jong, as part of an investigation into a suspicious deal last year to buy land in Naegok-dong on the southern edge of Seoul for a retirement home for Lee and auxiliary facilities for security personnel there, they said.
The office, however, said it did not request exit bans for President Lee and first lady Kim Yoon-ok.
The president's eldest brother, Sang-eun, who had loaned some 600 million won ($542,000) to his nephew, left the country on Monday, they said. A man identified only by his family name of You, who sold the land to Lee Si-hyung, has been staying overseas since May 12.
"(We) have asked the Justice Ministry to issue exit bans for most of the people who need to be investigated," special prosecutor Lee told reporters.
The scandal centers around land that was bought jointly by Lee Si-hyung and the presidential security service. However, it was later revealed that the cost was not shared evenly, with the security service paying a high price for the site for security facilities in what the opposition parties claimed was a scheme to allow the son to profit from buying the site at a below-market price.
The presidential office has flatly rejected suspicions it was an illicit scheme to help Lee's son profit. Lee later scrapped the project and decided to move into his existing private house in Nonhyun-dong in southern Seoul after leaving office.
The rival parties sought the special investigation after prosecutors wrapped up an inquiry into the scandal in June this year without filing charges against anyone involved, including the younger Lee, saying all suspicions in the case had been resolved.
The prosecutors said there was no evidence of malpractice in dividing the cost of the plot between the president's son and the presidential office. They also said there is no evidence that the president tried to buy land illegally in the name of his son.
That decision sparked a wave of public criticism.
The special counsel's office, which was launched on Monday, will reinvestigate charges that the two violated real estate laws by using the wrong name in a real estate transaction and also misappropriated taxpayers' money.
The special investigator is also expected to summon Lee Si-hyung, and other high-ranking officials from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, including the presidential chief of staff, Yim Tae-hee, sources close to the office said. (Yonhap)