Seoul :Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak has admitted receiving $100,000 from the state spy agency while still in office, reports said today, after he faced a marathon interrogation by prosecutors over corruption allegations.
Lee returned home on Thursday after lengthy questioning as he became the last of the country’s living ex-leaders to be embroiled in a criminal inquiry. He denied most corruption charges but admitted taking the off-book funds from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) via a presidential aide, Yonhap news agency said, citing a prosecution official. Allegations of graft involving the conservative 76-year-old’s relatives and aides during his term have mounted in recent weeks as prosecutors investigate multiple cases of bribery amounting to millions of dollars.
The probe means that all four living former South Korean presidents have been convicted, charged, or investigated for criminal offences, reports AFP.
Lee spent more than 21 hours at the prosecutors’ office in Seoul from Wednesday morning, and did not reply to questions from journalists outside as he left.”President Lee denied most of the charges,” the prosecutor was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.”But he accepted some facts.