More Secret Investigations on More High Officials Are Proceeding

The Special Prosecution team (SP) will summon Mr. Lee Ki-Ho, the senior secretary to the President for economy, to investigate why he introduced Mr. Lee Hyung-Taek, a nephew of the first lady, to the National Intelligence Service.

SP will grill senior secretary Lee whether he exerted influence on the NIS, Financial Supervisory Commission, and the Korea Development Bank in relation with the SamaeIndus stock market manipulation by Lee Yong-Ho and the treasure ship excavation project.

SP is also secretly investigating on other high ranking officials in the ruling party or Cheong Wa Dae, judging that the support for the treasure ship excavation project would not be possible by the decision of senior secretary Lee alone.

Previously, SP revealed that it will summon Mr. Lee Hyung-Taek who led the treasure ship excavation project on 29th to investigate how he had senior secretary Lee and ROK Navy involved in his project.

SP also collected circumstantial evidences that Lee H.T and a Mr. Oh made a project plan including the items to requests to the national organizations.

SP would accuse Mr. Lee H.T. for the charge of bribery if Mr. Lee sold his land for a higher price to Lee Young-Ho and made a contract to receive 15 percent of the excavation project`s profit as a reward for his lobbyist activities through government organizations including NIS.

SP revealed that Lee H.Y. bought 27,000 pyong of forest land in Kangwon Province by 280 million won, which is higher than the market price, late 2000. SP is investigating whether the transaction was a part of the reward for the treasure excavation project and the SamaeIndus stock price manipulation. SP is also investigating on various possibilities, for example, Lee H.T. might have sold the land by utilizing the information related with the North Korean projects.

Meanwhile, SP is planning to summon the personnel related to investigation on the Lee Yong-Ho case in 2000 including former Pusan High Prosecutors General Lim Hui-Yoon and former Deputy Prosecutors General of the Kwangju High Prosecutors Office Lim Yang-Woon from 29th.

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