COVID-19 Latest
World|politics|April 21, 2015 / 10:54 AM
South Korea PM tenders resignation over bribery scandal

AKIPRESS.COM - Lee Wan-KooSouth Korean prime minister Lee Wan-Koo was left in political limbo after offering to resign in the wake of a bribery scandal involving allegations against senior members of president Park Geun-Hye's administration.

Ms Park is currently on a trip to Latin America and a presidential spokeswoman said she would formally decide on whether to accept the resignation when she returned next week, ABC reports.

"I find it regrettable. I also feel sympathy for the agony of the prime minister," the president said in a written statement from Lima.

Mr Lee, who has only been in the job for two months, tendered his resignation late on Monday after the main opposition party said it would seek his impeachment.

His office said he had reported to work on Tuesday morning.

The prime minister is a largely symbolic post in South Korea, where power is concentrated in the executive.

But under Ms Park, it has proved to be a job both difficult to secure and equally tough to hold on to.

The president's first ever nominee withdrew after allegations about his past, and her initial prime minister Chung Hong-Won resigned after the April 2014 Sewol ferry disaster.

Ms Park's two successive nominees to replace Mr Chung withdrew their candidacies because of allegations of past wrongdoing and the job finally went to Mr Lee, who now looks almost certain to step down.

All rights reserved

© AKIpress News Agency - 2001-2024.

Republication of any material is prohibited without a written agreement with AKIpress News Agency.

Any citation must be accompanied by a hyperlink to akipress.com.

Our address:

299/5 Chingiz Aitmatov Prosp., Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic

e-mail: english@akipress.org, akipressenglish@gmail.com;

Follow us:

Log in


Forgot your password? - recover

Not registered yet? - sign-up

Sign-up

I have an account - log in

Password recovery

I have an account - log in