Judge questions aide to President Lee’s brother

A judge questioned an aide to President Lee Myung-bak's brother on Saturday over allegedly taking bribes from local businessmen, an official said.

Kim Hwan-soo, a judge of the Seoul Central District Court, is expected to decide late Saturday whether to issue a warrant to formally arrest the aide, the official said, without elaborating.

The move comes a day after prosecutors asked the court to issue the warrant for the aide, surnamed Park, on suspicion of taking bribes from local businessmen in return for influence peddling.

Park is an aide to Lee Sang-deuk, an elder brother of President Lee and a lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party.

The aide has been accused of receiving about 700 million won ($619,000) in cash and an expensive watch from two businessmen in return for his help in salvaging a troubled business group facing closure.

One of the businessmen, Lee Kuk-chul, chairman of SLS Group, allegedly asked Park to peddle his influence so that the group could avoid undergoing a debt workout program in 2009.

Park has denied the allegations, prosecution officials said.

SLS is a mid-sized business group with 10 subsidiaries, including heavy industry and shipbuilding firms. The affiliates have either gone bankrupt or into a debt workout program since 2009 when the chairman was investigated on suspicion of bribery and other charges.

On Friday, Rep. Lee issued a public apology for poorly managing his aide and called for a thorough investigation into the case.

The latest case comes just weeks after President Lee's press secretary and former vice culture minister were arrested for receiving bribes from a lobbyist and the SLS chairman, respectively.

Previous governments were also plagued by corruption cases in their final years in office. Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, committed suicide in 2009 amid a prosecution investigation into irregularities involving his relatives.

Lee's single five-year term ends in February 2013, and he is barred from seeking re-election under the Constitution.

(Yonhap News)