Premier Lee served only 63 days

By Do Je-hae

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo looks pensive at his residence in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Tuesday, a day after he offered to resign from the post. / Yonhap

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo offered to resign late Monday evening following a series of allegations he took illegal funds during the 2013 parliamentary by-election.

Lee’s abrupt departure was announced to correspondents of the prime minister’s office through text messages after midnight. Cheong Wa Dae immediately released a statement confirming Lee’s intention. President Park Geun-hye will make a final decision on Lee after she returns from her South American tour on April 27.

When the President approves the resignation, Lee will be recorded as the prime minister with the shortest tenure _ only 63 days in office. No prime minister in Korea’s modern history has served a shorter term than the former South Chungcheong Province governor.

He had initially stood firm about retaining his post, underlining that in the President’s absence, he had the duty to oversee state affairs and lead the Cabinet.

Ultimately, he gave into the mounting calls, even from his own Saenuri Party, to quit before answering a possible summons from the prosecution over the bribery allegations.

“I feel sorry about the decision,” Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung told reporters Tuesday in Incheon. Kim met with the President hours before Park embarked on an extended South American tour on April 16 to discuss Lee's future.

Leaders of the ruling party, including Kim and floor leader Rep. Yoo Seung-min, had an emergency meeting Monday during a campaign stop in Gwanak-B in Seoul.

They discussed the prime minister's dismissal after the latest news reports gave evidence that Lee had been dishonest about his relationship with Sung Woan-jong, the late construction tycoon-turned-politician who committed suicide after writing a slush fund memo.

Party leaders reached consensus on Lee’s early resignation during the meeting to assuage voters’ hostility ahead of the April 29 by-election. Since the outbreak of the scandal, people’s sentiment has been cooling for the ruling party, according to the latest surveys.

Even the people of Lee's native Chungcheong Province have turned against him. Representatives from the region’s civic groups held press conferences in front of the government complex in central Seoul, calling for Lee’s immediate resignation.

One of the most successful politicians from the region, he had been considered a possible presidential candidate in the weeks following his Feb. 17 appointment as prime minister.

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) was pursuing a motion to impeach the prime minister this week. “The prime minister's resignation is only the beginning of a long investigation,” NPAD Chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in said Tuesday while campaigning in Gwangju. “The dignity of the Park administration depends on how it deals with the scandal.”

With his departure from the prime minister's office, Lee is expected to be the first among the eight politicians to appear for prosecutors’ questioning. Prosecutors investigated Park June-ho, a former Keangnam executive, about the “Sung list” on Tuesday. Lee is accused of accepting 30 million won ($27,000) in cash from Sung in 2013 when Lee was running for a parliamentary seat.

The prime minister’s resignation came 11 days after the outbreak of the Sung scandal. Lee is among eight politicians listed on a slush fund memo found after Sung’s suicide. Also included on the list were President Park’s two previous chiefs of staff ― Huh Tae-yeol and Kim Ki-choon ― as well as the incumbent, Lee Byung-kee.

Lee's reputation has been tainted with one lie after another concerning his connection with the late businessmen, also hailing from South Chungcheong Province. He spent the entire interpellation session last week at the National Assembly denying any special connection with Sung. But prosecutors found that the two had spoken on the phone more than 200 times over the course of a year.

Lee cancelled all of his engagements for the week and is remaining at his official residence in Samcheong-dong, Seoul. Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan presided over a regular Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

Lee retains his seat in the 19th National Assembly as a representative of the county of Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province.