(2nd LD) Prosecution summons opposition leader to appear for questioning in bribery probe

(ATTN: UPDATES with reactions from Lee, the DP in last 5 paras; MODIFIES 3rd para; ADDS 4th para; CHANGES photo)

SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been asked to appear before prosecutors next week for questioning over allegations of third-party bribery surrounding corporate donations to a football club years ago, party and judicial officials said Thursday.

The case centers on the allegations that the city government of Seongnam, just south of Seoul, attracted about 16 billion won (US$11.2 million) in donations from six entities to a municipal football club in return for administrative favors in the mid-2010s, when Lee, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), was serving as the city's mayor.

According to the party and judicial officials, Lee received a summons as a suspect on Wednesday from the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors Office, which has been investigating the Seongnam FC case.

Lee was asked to come to the prosecution office on Dec. 28, they added.

Ranking party officials met at the National Assembly to discuss whether Lee should respond to the summons. Lee began a two-day trip on the day to the southeastern province of North Gyeongsang and the northeastern province of Gangwon to meet their residents.

Prosecutors are reportedly considering applying a third-party bribery charge to Lee in connection with donations totaling 5 billion won made between 2016 and 2018 by Doosan Engineering & Construction Co. to Seongnam FC, then headed by Lee.

Lee is suspected of changing the city's usage purpose for a 9,900-square-meter section of land owned by Doosan in the city's Bundang district from a hospital to commerce in return for the company's donation provided in the name of advertising expenses. Thanks to the zoning change, Doosan is said to have made huge profits.

Lee's aides have denied the allegations, saying the donations to the football club had nothing to do with the Seongnam city government's zoning change for Doosan.

Lee himself rejected the suspicion and leveled criticism at President Yoon Suk Yeol, condemning the Yoon government for "trying to destroy the opposition party and eliminate its political opponents."

"The most unfair and shameless regime is the Yoon Suk Yeol government. But it may not be able to hide its incompetence and injustice by killing Lee Jae-myung," Lee said in an address to market merchants and shoppers in Andong, 270 km southeast of Seoul.

The DP also strongly denounced the prosecution's summons for Lee, accusing the Yoon government and the prosecution of blatantly cracking down on the opposition party.

DP floor leader Park Hong-geun expressed deep regret at the summons, saying the attempt to summon the leader of the largest party and former leading presidential candidate indicates the Yoon government is obsessed with eliminating its political enemy.

Park then vowed to come up with countermeasures on a party level.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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