Son of incumbent pres. faces probe

Lee Si-hyung became the first son of an incumbent Korean president to be grilled by prosecutors Thursday, undergoing questioning through late last night by an independent investigation team over a scrapped land deal for his father`s retirement home.

The sons of former presidents had been summoned by prosecutors in the past but not by a special counsel.

The presidential security service and Lee Si-hyung jointly purchased the land, and the security service paid more than the president’s family. Prosecutors focused on the suspicion that the government allegedly paid the money instead of President Lee`s family, and grilled the younger Lee on any intervention by his father and the presidential office.

Investigators also looked into an alleged violation of a law on real-name property ownership as the contract was signed in the name of the president’s son, not the president himself, for inheritance.

Another target of the probe was the the original source of 600 million won (547,900 U.S. dollars). Lee Si-hyung claimed that he borrowed the money from his uncle Lee Sang-eun, the president’s elder brother, to buy the land for 1.2 billion won (1.1 million dollars).

Wearing a black suit, Lee Si-hyung arrived at the office of the special counsel in Seoul`s Seocho district at 10:10 a.m. in a silver Kia Carnival minivan and was surrounded by presidential security bodyguards.

He said calmly, “I’ll tell everything when I get inside,” after reporters hounded him with questions such as, "Why did you let (the president) use your name?” and “Why did you get 600 million won in cash from Lee Sang-eun?”

“I will sincerely tell the truth,” he added when reporters asked for a comment to the people. After answering questions, he moved to the video investigation room on the fifth floor with his attorney.

jks@donga.com sun10@donga.com