By Yi Whan-woo
Lee Si-hyung, the only son of President Lee Myung-bak, will be summoned for questioning Thursday over a property deal involving Cheong Wa Dae to build a retirement home for his father.
A special counsel looking into the case said the 34-year-old son will be questioned over allegations that he and the Presidential Security Service (PSS) did not share the cost evenly in purchasing the land for the retirement home in Naegok-dong, southern Seoul.
“Lee has accepted our summons,” an investigator told reporters. “For security reason, however, we can’t disclose the exact time when he will be brought in.”
This is the first time that a child of an incumbent president has been summoned by the prosecution. During an initial investigation in June, the prosecution questioned him only in written form and closed the case.
The scandal centers on land bought jointly by him and former PSS chief Kim In-jong. The land was supposed to be used as the site for a retirement home for the President and auxiliary facilities for his security personnel. The deal was nullified after the scandal broke.
It has been alleged that the service paid a high price for the site for its facilities to help the President’s son buy the remaining land at a lower than market price.
The opposition parties including the Democratic United Party and civic groups called for the reinvestigation, claiming that Lee Si-hyung violated real estate laws and used taxpayers’ money to purchase the land.
Cheong Wa Dae flatly denied any irregularities. President Lee cancelled the project and said he will instead move into his existing private house in Nonhyun-dong after he completes his five-year presidency in February.
However, he agreed to an independent counsel investigation _ that started on Oct. 16 _ following growing allegations.
Special prosecutor Lee Kwang-bum banned the President’s son and 11 others from leaving the country, and made it clear that the younger Lee will be questioned as a suspect, not a witness, in the case.
His investigators also asked the President’s elder brother, Lee Sang-eun, who allegedly loaned his nephew 600 million won ($542,000) to buy the land, to return home for questioning. The 79-year-old has remained overseas after leaving the country on Oct. 15, the day before the special prosecutor’s team was launched.
The team raided his house in Gwangjin, Seoul and has searched his office at automotive seat-maker DAS, the company he runs as chairman in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
It also raided several other sites related to Lee Si-hyung and two real estate agencies that were involved in the land purchase.