“Resign Voluntarily, Deputy Prime Minister Lee”

Controversy is growing after Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hun-jae’s wife was found to have purchased farmland through a name trust and disguised the transference.

The Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) urged on February 28 for “Deputy Prime Minister Lee’s voluntary resignation for accumulating his wealth through a typical real estate speculation such as disguised transference and name trust.”

The Citizen’s Coalition for Land Justice that consists of 17 citizen groups followed the CCEJ by releasing a statement in which it accused Deputy Prime Minister Lee of being a real estate speculator and demanded his step down from his post.

On the day, accusatory comments for Lee’s public apology and voluntary resignation flooded in to the Ministry of Finance and Economy’s homepage.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee, restrained from attending the official events including the 9:00 a.m. Cabinet meeting and the 10:30 a.m. ministers’ meeting on the low birth rate.

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae said that it has no plans to conduct a special examination or investigation of Deputy Prime Minister Lee’s suspicion of speculating in real estate.

A Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, Kim Jong-min, stated through a briefing, “The Ministry of Finance and Economy will explain the matter, and Cheong Wa Dae is not in a position to mention the matter separately.”

Chi-Young Shin higgledy@donga.com