S.Korean MPs vote to probe election frontrunner

SOUTH KOREA, South Korea's parliament voted Monday to launch a new probe into fraud allegations against presidential opposition frontrunner Lee Myung-Bak, two days before the country goes to the polls.

A specially appointed independent lawyer will investigate claims including share-rigging, faking documents and embezzlement against Lee, the favourite in Wednesday's polls, after fresh video evidence came to light.

Analysts said Lee is still expected to win Wednesday's election, but that the affair would cloud his first months in office.

It was unclear when the new probe would start. If elected, he would assume office on February 25 and as president would have immunity from prosecution.

The business-friendly Lee, 65, was cleared on December 5 of a major fraud allegedly engineered by his business part`ner and linked to the BBK investment firm.

However, government allies accused prosecutors of bias and pushed for an independent probe. Some 160 lawmakers voted in favour of appointing the special counsel, with none against. Lee's conservative Grand National Party (GNP) did not take vote.

"The motion on appointing an independent counsel has been passed," a parliamentary official told AFP.

Pressure to reopen the probe was spurred Sunday with the release of a video clip recorded in 2000 in which Lee appears to say he founded BBK. He had previously denied involvement in the firm.

Lee, a 65-year-old former construction executive, is seen by many as the candidate best suited to reinvigorate the economy after years of relatively modest growth.

When the deadline for opinion polls expired last week, he was almost 30 percentage points ahead of his closest rival. The video clip came to light after police arrested three men for trying to extort three billion won (3.2 million dollars) from the GNP in return for withholding it.

It purportedly shows Lee claiming to be the founder of BBK, during a speech at a university.

Incumbent President Roh Moo-Hyun told his justice minister on Sunday to consider reopening the prosecution probe, an action denounced by the GNP as interference in the election.

Roh is barred by the constitution from standing for a second five-year term. Most of his political allies are members of the newly formed UNDP. On Monday the justice ministry side-stepped Roh's call but said it would accept any inquiry by an independent counsel.

Lee said Monday he made "erroneous remarks" in the university speech while he was promoting a separate new business venture. But he again denied he had owned BBK. Opponents went for the jugular.

South Korea, Monday, AFP