Besieged lawmaker quits party

Rep. Park Duk-hyum of the main opposition People Power Party speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday, to announce his departure from the party amid corruption allegations that he exerted his influence to guarantee companies owned by his family would win more than 100 billion won ($86 million) in construction orders from central and local government agencies, while serving on the Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee that conducts regular audits into the agencies. He said he was leaving the party to keep it out of the controversy but continued to deny the allegations. / Yonhap